URGENT: Wire Fraud Warning
Cybercriminals are targeting real estate transactions. Please read these instructions carefully to protect your closing funds.
Hackers actively monitor emails sent by real estate agents, escrow officers, and title companies. Just before closing, they will send an email that looks exactly like it came from your trusted professional, providing "updated" or "new" wiring instructions. If you wire funds to this fraudulent account, your money may be lost forever.
ALWAYS CALL BEFORE YOU WIRE.
Never rely solely on email for wiring instructions. Before sending any funds, you must call your Escrow Officer directly to verify the routing and account numbers. Use a known, trusted phone number—do not use the phone number listed in the email containing the wiring instructions, as the hacker may have changed it to their own.
Watch for These Red Flags
1. Last-Minute Changes
Legitimate wiring instructions rarely, if ever, change. If you receive an email stating that the wiring instructions have been "updated," "revised," or that the bank account has changed, assume it is fraudulent until proven otherwise.
2. A Sense of Extreme Urgency
Cybercriminals try to panic you. If an email demands that you wire funds immediately or threatens that your transaction will be canceled if you do not act right this second, pause and call us.
3. Slightly Altered Email Addresses
Hackers will often "spoof" an email address to look like your Escrow Officer or Real Estate Agent. Look closely at the sender's address. For example, instead of name@sevengables.com, it might be name@sevengables-escrow.com or nane@sevengables.com.
Your Action Plan
If you receive an email containing wiring instructions or requesting funds, stop. Do not forward the email, and do not reply.
Call Leisure Life Real Estate or your Escrow Officer immediately at a number you already have on file to verify.