There seems to be no end to what
scammers will target. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Washington
State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) are warning consumers to watch
out for scammers intercepting money transfers during real estate transactions. Consumers have lost thousands of dollars
thinking wiring instructions were changed when in fact scammers were
redirecting their funds.
The way the scam works is as follows:
Scammers will hack into the email accounts of buyers and
real estate professionals to collect information about upcoming real estate
transactions.
When the scammer finds a pending real estate deal, they will
send an email to the buyer, posing as the real estate professional or the title
company, with instructions about a last-minute change to the wiring instruction
to a different bank account. The new account belongs to the scammer.
This scam tries to take advantage of a buyer’s emotions as a
real estate deal closes. The time up to sending payment to the seller can be a
busy period in the transaction. A house purchase is an important transaction
for most people, so most buyers will feel pressure to get things right. If the
scammer can slip in some bogus instructions to convince the buyer to send the
money to a bogus account, then they have just made some easy money.
One method of hacking for the information is phishing or in
some cases spear phishing. In a phishing attack, a hacker will send an email
with links to malware or attachments with malware that when opened will send
back information to the hacker. In a spear phishing attack, the hacker has
learned who belongs to the organization and sends the email with malware to
specific employees, often posing as supervisors or other employees in the
organization.
If you are closing on a house, the FTC and DFI recommend
that you:
·
If you get an email changing your money-wiring
instructions do not do anything until you have checked with your real estate
agent or the title company. Do not call or email to any phone numbers or email
addresses in the email. Use phone numbers or email addresses that you have
received separately. Remember, email is not a secure way to send wiring
instructions.
·
Don’t open email attachments, even from someone
you know, unless you are expecting it. Opening an attachment can install
malware on your computer.
For more information about this scam, look at the following
links,
Federal Trade Commission:
Washington State Department of Financial Institutions:
The Simple Dollar:
For more information about phishing scams check out this
link from the FTC:
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