Cyber Security

Cyber Security

Protect Yourself From Cyber Fraud

Watch the video or read below to learn how to protect yourself from cyber fraud.

What is wire fraud?

Wire fraud occurs when a bad actor is able to misdirect payments, typically through social engineering and impersonation via email, phone and/or text message. 

1. It often starts with publicly available information – home sale listings or land records. 
2. That intelligence is used to impersonate trusted parties – your real estate agent, title company, attorney, or loan officer. 
3. Your email account, or the email account of someone involved in the transaction (the buyer, seller, real estate agent, mortgage lender, title agent, or other), may be hacked to establish a “trusted” communication chain. 
4. The attack then follows, with fraudulent wire instructions from that “trusted” source via email. 
5. If not questioned, the money intended for closing gets wired to the wrong account.  
6. Once wired, the money will quickly move to other accounts, or into cryptowallets – making your funds nearly impossible to trace. By the time closing day arrives and the mistake is realized, the funds are often long gone. 

How to Avoid Wire Fraud

Rule 1: Always question emails that contain “new” or “updated” wiring instructions.
Hackers have learned to exploit the real estate closing process to steal millions of dollars from people buying or selling a home. If you receive an email with “new” or “updated” wiring instructions, call our office at (740) 927-3001 to confirm the legitimacy of the instructions before going any further. Do not call the phone number listed in the email.

Rule 2: Always call before sending any money.
When you do receive instructions on where to send money prior to closing, always call your contact person at our title company to verify. Then call your bank to verify as well.

Rule 3: Always call after sending money.
It’s always a good idea to call us right after the money is sent, as well. That way, you can confirm that it was received by the correct recipient.

Rule 4: Act immediately if anything seems unusual.
Contact your bank, mortgage company, and title company immediately if anything is in question. If something is wrong, you may need to contact your local FBI office.

Our security policies and practices

At Hayes Title Agency, we work hard to ensure the transactions we handle are protected. 

We do not distribute proceeds from closing until all funds are shown as “collected” by our bank, even though our bank may allow access to “pending” funds.  This may cause slight delays in distribution, but should reduce risk for all persons involved in the transaction. 

As such, we recommend funds be sent to our office at least one business day prior to closing, as this allows funds time to show as “collected” in our account so we may disburse the same day as closing.