Email scams are nothing new, and we've all seen them. But, would you expect that an email coming from the closing agency, real estate agency, or your real estate agent might really be from cyber criminals trying to trick you into wiring closing funds to an offshore account?
If you are involved in a real estate transaction, or plan to be in the near future, and you are not already aware of the issue, then you should read this.
Reports by The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and New York Real Estate News all identify cases where buyers, believing they were in communication with authorized parties, wired large sums of closing funds to accounts linked to parties with criminal motives, and were left with no money to complete their purchase.
Warnings to consumers have been issued by the National Association of REALTORS® as well as the Federal Trade Commission, as the criminal activity continues.
Who is targeted, how are the criminals operating, and what can you do to make sure it doesn't happen to you?