Cyber Security
Protect Yourself From Cyber Fraud
- Hacked email – Hackers get access to the email account of someone involved in the transaction – the buyer, seller, real estate agent, mortgage lender, title agent, or other.
- Email from hacker – The hacker then emails that person to change the wiring or payment instructions without knowledge from the other parties.
- Consumer pays wrong account – If not questioned, the wrong account gets the down payment or other funds and the criminal gets away.
- Closing day – By the time closing day arrives and the mistake is realized, often the funds are long gone.
How to Avoid Wire Fraud
Rule 1: Always question emails that contain wiring instructions.
Hackers have learned to exploit the real estate closing process to steal millions of dollars from people buying or selling a home.
At Smart Title, we use a secure portal called Qualia to send you our wiring instructions, or we will send you an ENCRYPTED email with the information. Please know that we will never send you wiring instructions without using a secure method of delivery.
NOTE: Our wiring instructions DO NOT CHANGE. If you receive revised wiring instructions, do not send funds and call us right away.
Rule 2: Always call before sending any money.
When you do receive instructions on where to send money prior to closing, always call us to verify at a phone number you know is valid for our office.
NOTE: It is also a good idea to check with your bank ahead of time to ask if they have a limit on how much you can wire, or an extra process/time frame for wiring larger amounts.
Rule 3: Always call after sending money.
Please inform us after your money is wired. During banking hours, wires may take anywhere from 5 minutes to a couple of hours to be received on our end. For your peace of mind, we will let you know as soon as we receive it.
Rule 4: Act immediately if anything seems unusual.
Contact your bank and Smart Title immediately if anything is in question.
