You’ve gathered your down payment funds and it’s almost closing day. Let’s talk about important issues with wire transfers and tips to keep your down payment safe.
Related Reading: Steps to Buy a Home
Hackers are always creating new ways to take our privacy and our money. Recent fraud attempts have focused on real estate brokers and their clients. The scammers have been hacking broker email accounts to look for closing money wire instructions. The hackers use this information to contact buyers and change the wiring instructions to be sent to a trust account in New York. The money is transferred outside the United States as soon as the unsuspecting buyer wires the money.
We will not send wire instructions. If you receive wire instructions from what seems to be our account or anyone other than your title company, please ignore them. Do NOT call the phone number of a possibly fraudulent email.
Since this can happen quickly and quietly:
- Please call your title company directly to confirm wiring instructions.
- Confirm with your lender or bank that they have the correct instructions!
- If you have noticed any discrepancies, please let us know so that we can report this to our real estate association and possibly to the police fraud department.
Click here for an article about this practice from National Title Solutions, Inc.
Our team is always here to help and answer questions for every step of your buying process. Call 719-321-0800 or email susanna@co-regroup.com.
