Wiring Funds for your upcoming closing on a home may seem like a simple process – but BEWARE and take precautions as this has become a potenital for scammers to steal your money. ALWAYS CALL YOUR REALTOR AND TITLE COMPANY AND BANK TO ENSURE INFORMATION. Email wiring instructions should NOT BE TRUSTED without CONFIRMATION.
The new consumer protection rules and lender laws we have in place STILL could have some issues for you as the Buyer or Seller to be informed about; especially because so much of our business is being done over the internet with technology apps and emails. One thing that we like to make sure our client’s are aware of – is that WIRING INSTRUCTIONS are NOT LIKELY TO CHANGE – so while we meet in person and discuss things, depending on the title company that has been selected – we often have those wiring instructions in our hands and can provide directly to you. This helps to ensure that your email communication discussing the potential for closing, wire instructions or other key phrases cannot be picked up on my some SCAMMER out there. If you DO receive WIRE INSTRUCTIONS via email (from your Realtor or the Title Company or the Lender) it is ALWAYS a good safety precaution to CALL THAT PERSON DIRECTLY and ask if they had sent the information…I would encourage you to go as far as reading the wiring instructions exactly to them to ensure NOTHING WAS CHANGED or HACKED.
The idea of wiring funds – SHOULD give a peace of mind, as you are controlling the funds coming out of your account and going directly into the account that is required (closing / title company) as procedure in our area. HOWEVER, since many times we all get busy and something else comes up that requires our attention, we can forget that we already received a document or where we filed it – and now that it is time to make the transfer – you could inadvertently pull the SCAM message instead. Once you hit send – those funds are GONE and trying to track it down after the fact is going to be a nightmare NONE OF US want to be involved with, and you certainly do not want to loose out on the purchase / sale of your home because someone SCAMMED YOU.
National Title Company also has this helpful list of precautions – if you are looking to buy or sell property – you will want to BE INFORMED of this procedure and precautions you may want to take to protect yourself, your funds and your property. BEWARE of WIRE FRAUD