How to Avoid Wire Fraud at Your Florida Real Estate Closing

A real estate closing is one of the largest payments most people ever make, and criminals know it. Wire fraud schemes target buyers sending their down payment and sellers expecting their proceeds. A few simple habits stop almost all of them.

How the Scam Works

1. The criminal learns about your closing. Often by hacking an email account, or by creating an address that looks almost identical to your agent's or title company's.
2. You get "updated" wire instructions. The email looks real, uses the right names and may arrive right before closing, with pressure to send funds quickly.
3. The money goes to the criminal. Once a wire is sent to the wrong account, it is moved quickly and is hard to recover.

Warning Signs

• An email says wire instructions have changed, or asks you to use a different bank
• The sender's address is slightly different from earlier emails
• You are pressured to send money urgently or told not to call
• A request to wire funds comes by text or social media
• Instructions arrive from someone you have not dealt with before

How to Protect Yourself

• Verify by phone, every time. Call the title company using a number you found yourself, such as on its official website or your contract. Never use a number from the email with the instructions.
• Confirm the details. Read back the bank name, account number and routing number before you send anything.
• Call again after sending. Confirm the title company received the funds.
• Be careful with email. Do not send account numbers or personal information by unsecured email.

Our policy is simple: Title Warehouses of America does not change wire instructions by email. If you ever receive a message saying our instructions have changed, do not send money. Call us at (888) 354-8005.

If You Think You Sent Money to a Scammer

Act immediately. Minutes matter.

1. Call your bank and ask it to recall the wire and contact the receiving bank.
2. Call the title company so it can alert the other banks and parties involved.
3. File a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
4. Contact local law enforcement and keep copies of every email and receipt.

Seller Impersonation Fraud

Criminals also pose as property owners and try to sell land or homes they do not own, often vacant lots and rentals where the real owner lives elsewhere. Title companies verify each seller's identity and authority before closing.

Owners can protect themselves too. Many Florida county clerks and comptrollers, including Orange County, offer free property fraud alerts that notify you when a document is recorded in your name.

Sellers: Protect Your Proceeds

Sellers are targeted as well, with fake requests to send proceeds to a new account. Give your payout instructions to the title company directly, confirm them by phone, and be suspicious of any email asking to change them.

Have a question about wire instructions for a closing with us? Call (888) 354-8005 before you send any money.