This week, we spoke with local real estate attorney, Matt Suber, at Lueder, Larkin, and Hunter, to get an idea of what exactly wire fraud is and what our clients need to do in order to protect themselves from scams. This is what he said.

What is wire fraud?

Wire fraud is a major problem in the real estate closing industry today and something that all parties, but buyers in particular, must be aware of.  The industry moved away from checks due to real concerns there (Google “HomeBanc bounced checks”), but the use of wires created a new opportunity for criminals.  The scams work something like this: crooks will target an unsecure email account from a computer or phone that has previously been compromised.  They then pull legitimate information regarding the transaction from other emails they read in that account and use that information to send the buyer a fake email purporting to be from an agent, the law firm, or lender providing fake wiring instructions.  That email will have all the right logos and look very much like a legitimate email. 

Who is typically targeted?

The target is usually the buyer for obvious reasons, but we get targeted as well and anyone sending a wire needs to be careful.  Be on particular lookout for emails containing “updated” wiring instructions.  Once a wire has been sent to the fake account, the crooks will immediately wire it out to other accounts, and it can be very difficult if not impossible to get the funds back. 

So how do you protect yourself? 

Other than coming into our office to pick up a hard copy of our wiring instructions, which is always an option, the absolute best thing you can do to protect yourself is to call us and confirm our the wiring instructions before sending the wire.  Our firm sends an email with a link to our website where you can download or print the wiring instructions.  Once you have those, call us and we can read our actual instructions back to you to confirm that what you have is legitimate.  Of course, never use the phone number listed in the email to call and confirm.  A scam email will have a fake phone number where a crook will cheerfully confirm the wrong instructions.  Instead, use a prior known number or, if you don’t have one already, go to our website and use a phone number for any of the offices listed there.  Even if you have a known number, confirming it again with our website is a great idea.

Is there anything else I need to do?

If you have called and confirmed the instructions, using a known phone number or from our website, you can be confident your money is going to the right place.  And if you get a second email or an email with “updated” wiring instructions be sure to confirm those again too.  Just know that our law firm’s wiring instructions will not change and any “updated” instructions purportedly for us is illegitimate. 

If I fall victim to wire fraud, what can I do?

If you are the victim of wire fraud, your funds can sometimes be caught and returned, but it is critical that you act immediately.  So in addition to confirming the wiring instructions before sending your wire, it’s also a great idea to call us and confirm that we’ve received your wire after you have sent it, particularly if you are sending your wire more than 24 hours before closing.  Just know that while some wires arrive in less than an hour, it often take a few hours before we can confirm that a wire has hit our account, and wires sent later in the day may not arrive until the next day. 

More information can be found here:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/05/take-these-steps-prevent-wire-fraud-during-real-estate-transaction/

A special thanks to Matt for helping put this article together! He can be reached at MSuber@luederlaw.com with any other questions you might have.

If you have any more questions about what rest of the buying or selling process looks like or what your first steps might need to look like, reach out to us by using the messenger icon on your screen or by texting or calling our number at (678) 242-9981. We’ll be happy to help however we can.