Don?t Let Wire Fraud Derail Your Home Purchase

It seems like everyday scammers discover a new way to defraud consumers ? and now homebuyers are their targets. Unfortunately, thousands of homebuyers fall victim to wire fraud schemes every year. Although the escrow process was created to help safeguard your funds during a home purchase, scammers have figured out a way to hijack this process and steal tens of thousands of dollars from unwitting homebuyers. Here?s what you need to know to make sure you don?t become one of their next victims. 

房地产欺诈行为呈上升趋势

根据联邦调查局的说法，房地产欺诈行为正在急剧上升。在他们 2018年互联网犯罪报告, Americans lost almost $150 million in real estate scams, including wire fraud. Not only that, but the number of scams in the real estate industry has increased by more than 1000 percent since 2015. It?s more important than ever that homebuyers understand how they can be targeted and how to spot a scam before they become a victim.

房地产电汇欺诈的工作原理

Let?s take a look at what a typical wire fraud scenario would look like. Scammers identify pending home sales using publicly available data. They then determine all the parties involved with the transaction and hack into their email accounts. They closely watch the correspondence between them to determine the best time to act. They will often target a homebuyer a few days before the scheduled closing date by sending an urgent email. This email looks legitimate ? including the email address of the real estate agent and their signature. The email will even address the buyer by name. This message will contain new instructions for delivering the funds for the closing. Instead of bringing a check to the closing, the buyer is instructed to wire the money to their lender immediately to avoid a delay in the closing. Unfortunately, as you can guess, the money is not wired to the lender, it is wired to a fake bank account set up by the scammer. The buyer may not even realize that they were scammed until they talk to their real estate agent a few days later to finalize the closing details.

如何避免被骗

尽管这是一个非常复杂的网络钓鱼诈骗，但您可以采取一些步骤来避免成为受害者。第一的， 了解关闭过程. Talk with your real estate agent over the phone or in person about how the closing process works. Avoid sharing these details over email where scammers may see them. Then decide on a code phrase that all trusted parties would use to confirm their identities in the future as well as a phone number where they can be reached. If you receive wiring instructions via email, don?t click on any links or call any phone numbers listed in the email. Instead, call the agreed-upon phone numbers to verify whether or not the instructions are legitimate. And whatever you do, don?t send sensitive financial information via email.

被骗了怎么办

It?s important to act quickly as soon as you realize that you have been scammed. Contact your bank or the wire service and let them know the receiving party is a scammer. Ask for a 电汇. You?re more likely to get your money back if you act fast. You should also contact the FBI at https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx 报告欺诈行为。

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