Avoid Wire Fraud – Personal Email Rules

Fraud attempts happen when individuals (Buyers & Sellers) have provided email credentials in a phishing attack at some point in the past. These may have happened 5-20+ year ago without your knowledge but could effect you today.

Scammers set rules in your email account to forward legit emails and then delete the forward automatically. This allows the scammer to spoof parties to the transaction (Lender, Title Company, Realtor, etc.) and insert fraudulent wire instructions or fraudulent pay off instructions that seem legit. The scammers will intercept actual emails and replace them with the fraudulent instructions and make it look like it’s being sent by a party to the transaction.

To help avoid this from happening to you, I’m providing some flash cards with step by step instructions to help you eliminate scammers who might already have access to your inbox. (Need to do these on a computer NOT your phone).

Funds being targeted in real estate transactions: Buyer’s funds for closing, Seller’s proceeds, Payoff letters.

• Nearly 1 in 4 are targeted with suspicious communications.
• More than 1 in 10 become targets of fraud.
• More than 1 in 20 become victims of fraud.

Take these tips to protect your email to help avoid becoming a victim of wire fraud.