Beware of Business Email Compromise – It Could Cost You!By Mike Volin, Vice President – Legal at Title Resource Group
If you are in the real estate industry, you probably know someone who has gotten the call – or unfortunately, you may have gotten the call. Sometimes the homebuyer is the victim; other times it is the sales agent or title company. In any case, the calls always end the same: “Wait what? Are you telling me that they wired $50,000 to some hacker? What do we do now? How do we stop this from happening again?”
“Business E-mail Compromise” scams target companies and industries, like real estate, that regularly transfer funds via wire. In the typical real estate industry version of the scam, the villain might pose as a title company employee and e-mail the buyer with a last minute change to the instructions on where to send money needed to close. Or they might pose as the seller and send an e-mail to the title company asking that seller’s proceeds be sent to a new account. In some cases the e-mail comes from the real account – because the villain has gained access somehow – or it comes from an account made to look like a real account: so instead of the e-mail being jane.agent@jane-realty.com it might add an extra letter – so it would have an extra “l” in realty. The FBI reported that in 2015 and 2016 there was more than a 2000% increase in identified exposed losses due to Business E-mail Compromise. To protect yourself and your customers, the FBI recommends increased awareness and understanding. Some specific recommendations from the FBI are:
Sadly, these types of scams are not going away and will likely get worse. Only through education and vigilance can you put you and your customers in the best position to avoid becoming a victim. Note: This story originally ran in the June 2017 edition of RESPRO eNews. |
Today's Top Stories |