Stay Paranoid: Just Because You Are Paranoid Doesn’t Mean They Aren’t Out to Get You
There have been recent cases where fraudulent, but realistic-looking, emails were sent to buyers in a real estate transaction requesting them to wire funds in order to ‘hijack’ the money. Always call the title company just prior to wiring funds to prevent scamming.
Below are some great tips from Realtor® Magazine. Following is an article on cyberfraud from the National Association of Realtors®.
It’s a busy time for real estate professionals as they contend with high transaction volume during year-end closings. But hackers are busy, too, and the National Association of REALTORS® has received reports that sophisticated e-mail scams are targeting the real estate industry.
In the typical scam, the criminal hacks into the e-mail account of a real estate agent or other person involved in the transaction and uses information that’s been acquired to dupe a party to the transaction, usually the buyer, into a fraudulent wire transfer. The hacker will send a legitimate-looking e-mail informing the buyer of a last-minute change to the wiring instructions, and that’s the last that’s seen of the money. It’s not a distant treat.
NAR Legal Affairs has developed a checklist to help you recognize and avoid this kind of fraud. Among the tips:
- Do not send sensitive information via e-mail. If you must, use encrypted e-mail.
- Do not click on unverified e-mail.
- Do not conduct business over unsecured Wi-Fi.
- The party wiring money should never send money without first verifying the recipient by phone (calling only a verified phone number).
- If fraud is suspected, contact all parties to the transaction without delay.
—Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine.
Protect Yourself from Cyberfraud
Download the handout: Protecting Your Business and Your Clients from Cyberfraud (PDF: 354 KB)
From the National Association of Realtors® re cyber fraud.
By 2019, cybercrime will cost businesses an estimated $2 trillion annually. Don’t be a part of that statistic! Implement the following best practices to safeguard you, your clients, and your business from online criminals.
Best Business Practices: Develop and enforce formal policies for ensuring data security.
- Create, maintain and follow a comprehensive Data Security Program.*
- Create, maintain and follow a comprehensive Document Retention Policy.*
- Avoid storing clients’ personally identifiable information for longer than absolutely necessary. When you no longer need it, destroy it.
Best Email Practices: Unsecure email accounts are open doors to cyber criminals. Follow these guidelines to help keep that door securely shut and locked tight.
- Whenever possible, avoid sending sensitive information via email.
- If you must send sensitive information via email, make sure to use encrypted email.
- Never trust contact information in unverified emails.
- If an email looks even slightly suspicious, do not click on any links in it, and do not reply to it.
- Clean out your email account regularly. You can always store important emails on your hard drive.
- Do not use free wifi to transact business.
- Avoid using free email accounts for business.
- Use strong passwords.
- Change your password regularly.
Best Transaction Practices: Real estate transactions require flurries of information between numerous parties. This makes for primetime opportunities for fraudsters. How do you secure your deal?
- From the very start of any transaction, communicate and educate. Get all parties to the transaction up to speed on fraud “red flags,” and make sure everyone implements secure email practices.
- When wiring money, the person doing the wiring should pick up the telephone and call the intended recipient of the wired funds immediately prior to sending the funds in order to verify the wiring instructions.
- Remember to use only independently verified contact information.
- Stay paranoid. A few years back the director of the FBI almost got taken by an email banking scam. If it can happen to him, it can happen to us.
Best Damage Control Practices: It’s happened. A breach of data, a successful scam, a hack. What to do?
- If a money wire has gone out, immediately contact the bank to try and stop the funds.
- Notify all affected or potentially affected parties. Many states have data breach notification laws.
- Change all of your passwords. If possible, change usernames as well.
- Talk to your attorney.
- Contact the police.
- Report the breach to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
- Report to your REALTOR® Associations.
Courtesy of the National Association of Realtors®