Home Buyers and Seller beware - WIRE TRANSFER FRAUD

If you are in the process of buying or selling a home please BEWARE:

Online banking fraud is on the rise. If you receive an email for a title company or your real estate agent containing WIRE TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS call your agent or escrow officer immediately to verify the information prior to sending funds.

Here’s how the scam goes down.

You’re about to settle on a home. You get an e-mail from your real estate agent or from the title company, requesting funds to be wired to an account for settlement. The e-mail states that there is a last-minute change in wiring instructions.

You dutifuly wire the money using the new instructions.

Then, the call comes from the title company the day before settlement, asking why you have not sent your funds for settlement. This is the moment you learn that you have sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to a thief.

This scheme is not new. But a recent resurgence of wire fraud in the real estate industry, and the increase in its sophistication, prompted the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and many national title insurance companies to issue warning bulletins to the industry.

The National Association of Realtors recommends the following:

Prevention

• Immediately contact all parties to all of your upcoming transactions and inform them of the possibility of this fraud.  Attorneys, escrow agents, buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and title agents have all been targeted in these scams.  You can also download and distribute NAR’s online fraud prevention handout, accessible here. 

• If possible, do not send sensitive information via email.  If you must use email to send sensitive information, use encrypted email. 

• Immediately prior to wiring any money, the person sending the money must call the intended recipient to verify the wiring instructions.  Only use a verified telephone number to make this call. 

• Do not trust contact information in unverified emails.  The hackers will recreate legitimate-looking signature blocks with their own telephone number.   In addition, fraudsters will include links to fake websites to further convince victims of their legitimacy. 

• Never click on any links in an unverified email.  In addition to leading you to fake websites, these links can contain viruses and other malicious spyware that can make your computer – and your transactions – vulnerable to attack. 

• Never conduct business over unsecured wifi.  

• Trust your instincts.  Tell clients that if an e-mail or a telephone call ever seems suspicious or “off,” that they should refrain from taking any action until the communication has been independently verified as legitimate.

• Clean out your e-mail account on a regular basis. Your e-mails may establish patterns in your business practice over time that hackers can use against you. In addition, a longstanding backlog of e-mails may contain sensitive information from months or years past. You can always save important e-mails in a secure location on your internal system or hard drive.

• Change your usernames and passwords on a regular basis, and make sure your employees and licensees do the same.

• Never use usernames or passwords that are easy to guess. Never, ever use the password “password.”

• Make sure to implement the most up-to-date firewall and anti-virus technologies in your business.

Damage Control

• If money has been wired via false wiring instructions, immediately call all banks and financial institutions that could possibly put a stop to the wire.

• Contact your local police. 

• Contact any clients or other parties who may have been exposed during the attack so that they take appropriate action. Remind them not to comply with any requests from an unverified source.

• Change all usernames and passwords associated with any account that you believe may have been compromised or otherwise made vulnerable by the attack.

• Report any fraudulent activity to the Federal Bureau of Investigations via their Internet Crime Complaint Center. More information can be found by clicking here(link is external)

• Brokers should report any fraudulent activity to their state or local REALTOR® association so that the associations can send out alerts or take other appropriate action, including contacting NAR.

Follow this guidance to avoid becoming a victim:

If you believe your e-mail or any other account has been hacked, or that you or a client has otherwise been a victim of online fraud, you should take the following steps:

This advice is not all-inclusive, and real estate practitioners should work with Information Technology and cybersecurity professionals to ensure that their e-mail accounts, online systems, and business practices are as secure and up-to-date as possible.

Be aware that these emails are extremely convincing.  Many sophisticated parties have been duped. No one should assume that they are “too savvy” to recognize the fraud.  In addition, no one should assume that they are “too small a target” to be on these criminals’ radars. This fraud is pervasive, convincing, and constantly evolving.

For more information on this and other cyberscams, as well as further information on cybersecurity best practices, visit these resources:

http://www.realtor.org/law-and-ethics/protecting-your-business-and-your-clients-from-cyberfraud

http://www.realtor.org/articles/request-to-redirect-funds-should-trigger-caution

http://www.realtor.org/topics/data-privacy-and-security

http://www.realtor.org/topics/risk-management

http://www.realtor.org/articles/internet-security-best-practices

http://www.realtor.org/topics/realtor-safety/articles

http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2015/05/19/alert-wire-fraudsters-targeting-real-estate-transactions/

If you have any questions or if you would like assistance in buying, selling or renting give me a call. I'm happy to help.

Ali Palacios, ABR, MCNE, TAHS
Realtor
Today's Home Realty
ali.palacios@todayshomerealty.com
Mobile - 832-418-0670
Fax - 832-201-7492
www.todayshomerealty.com
www.ilovehappyclients.com

9119 Hwy 6 S #230-116, Missouri City, TX 77459


Home buyers and sellers beware: http://homes-sale-richmond-texas.blogspot.com/2016/02/home-buyers-and-seller-beware-wire.html
Rental fraud alert: http://homes-sale-richmond-texas.blogspot.com/2016/02/rental-fraud-alert-texas-luz-astacio.html

About me: http://www.ilovehappyclients.com

Professional Memberships:

• Houston Association of Realtors®

• Texas Association of Realtors®

• National Association of Realtors®

• Accredited Buyer’s Representative – ABR

• Master Certified Negotiation Expert – MCNE

• Accredited Staging Professional – ASP®

• Texas Affordable Housing Specialist – TAHS

• Women’s Council of Realtors®

• National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate

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