The Rise of Business Email Compromise (BEC)

As technology evolves, fraudsters are getting increasingly more sophisticated with their methods to steal funds, especially in high-stakes transactions like buying a home. The last thing anyone wants to worry about during this process is the threat of fraud. Business email compromise (BEC) and other wire fraud schemes are among the most prevalent threats. Documented […]

The Rise of Seller Impersonation: How Scammers are Targeting Real Estate Transactions

With the real estate market experiencing a shallow inventory, potential home buyers are seeing increased competition, leading to frequent bidding wars. In this intense environment, prospective buyers may sense the need to expedite specific steps in the purchasing process to make their offer more appealing to the seller. However, they must exercise caution, as taking […]

Escrow Scams: What Every Title Company Should Know

E-commerce continues to gain popularity in the real estate industry and elsewhere. As a result, it’s more important than ever to make sure your title company has a plan in place to deal with escrow scams. These scams, which involve fraudsters posing as trustworthy escrow services during real estate deals and other transactions, have exploded in […]

How Do You Protect Your Clients From Wire Fraud?

These days, just about everybody working in the real estate industry knows that wire fraud is a serious problem. Despite this, it’s easy to underestimate how massive this issue has become. According to the FBI, an estimated 13,638 individuals fell victim to real estate wire fraud in 2020–a number 17% higher than 2019.  So, how do you […]

Why You Should Stop Emailing Out Wire Instructions

It’s not a great idea to open emails from Nigerian princes, but it’s a terrible idea to actually wire those princes any funds, no matter how great the promised payout is. So, what about when you’re working with a credible title agency or settlement company on the sale of a property? Sending and receiving documents […]

ZDNet – Don’t want to get hacked?

Insert Headline CISA (US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) warns of risky behaviours that leave networks exposed to cyberattacks – and should be addressed immediately if employed. FULL ARTICLE →

Money.com – I Almost Lost $50,000 to a Real Estate Scam

“These spoofed emails are not the typical scam emails with misspellings and typos,” says Andy White, CEO of Closinglock, which helps title companies ward off wire fraud. “These are targeted, well-crafted spoofed emails that look like they are from the title or escrow company or attorney office. When there are hundreds of thousands or millions […]

Key Takeaways From the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report (IC3)

For those of us with a vested interest in reducing the number of internet-based crimes, last year’s Internet Crime Report is a sobering reminder that there’s still much work to be done, both in educating consumers and in safeguarding their interests. Here are some of the most important takeaways from the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime […]