Verify Before You Wire
Wire fraud hits real estate closings every week. The usual play is a spoofed email that looks like it came from the title company, the lender or the agent, with “updated” wire instructions, often sent the day before funding. Once the money moves it’s usually gone.
It isn’t just investors. In a federal indictment unsealed in November 2026, prosecutors allege a group posing as a bank’s CEO got about $2.7 million wired out of a Rhode Island bank, and tried the same thing on a New York investment bank, whose back office stopped a $2.85 million wire. If it works on banks, it works on closings.
Three habits that protect every deal
- Wire instructions don’t change by email. If you get new instructions, stop and don’t send anything.
- Verify by phone using a number you already have — from your contract, the title company’s website or an earlier call. Never use the number in the email.
- Confirm receipt with title the same day the wire goes out.
If Something Looks Wrong
- Call your bank right away and ask them to recall the wire. Speed matters — the first hours count.
- File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
- Tell the title company and everyone on the transaction, by phone.
Questions About a Wire on an ACP File?
Call or text Steve Waller at 936-522-8951 before you send funds. A two-minute call costs nothing.
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