Escrow Wire Fraud

Closing on a new home?  This should be a time of excitement and anticipation! But criminals have become more and more creative in finding victims.  The FBI reported in 2017 alone, 9,645 victims reported real estate fraud, resulting in losses of more than $56.2 million.

Escrow Wire Fraud – How does it work?

• The real estate agent or closing agent clicks on a link that installs malware.
• The hacker takes over the agent’s email account and sends fraudulent wire request to the home buyer.
• The home buyer sends a wire transfer to the hacker.

So how can you protect yourself?

• Before you send money to a third party, go back to the original documents you received from your lender and call the phone numbers listed there to verify the wiring instructions you received.
•  Never click on email or text links, or send money online, without verifying wire instructions with a live person on the phone from a number that you’ve called and verified.

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Card Holders Beware!

When you least expect it and sometimes at the worst possible time, card fraud can strike!

Paying for gas at the pump can sometimes lead to SKIMMING, a form of credit card theft where crooks use a small device to steal credit card information in what would seem like a legitimate credit or debit card transaction. When a credit or debit card is run through a skimmer, the device captures all the details stored in the card’s magnetic strip.

Before you slide your card in a fuel pump, take a good look at the keyboard and card reader. To place a skimmer inside a fuel pump, fraudsters must open the fuel dispenser door to insert the skimmer. Does the reader or the keyboard look different? Is the seal broken?

Gas stations place a serial-numbered security tape across the dispenser door, so check to see if the tape has been broken. If there’s no tape, check to see if the dispenser door looks as though it has been forced open. 

If you detect any these signs of possible tampering, please inform the gas station attendent and you may want to go to another pump.