FOR BUYERS & SELLERS
Wire Fraud Prevention
Real estate closings are a primary target for wire fraud. Once funds are sent to a criminal's account, recovery is rare. Here is how it works and how to protect yourself.
How It Works
Criminals monitor real estate transactions, often by compromising the email account of an agent, a lender, a buyer, or a title company. They learn the parties involved, the settlement date, and the amount due.
Shortly before closing, they send an email that appears to come from a trusted party. It contains wiring instructions, or an urgent change to instructions already provided. The email looks legitimate: correct names, correct property address, correct figures, and a display name matching someone you have been corresponding with for weeks.
If funds are sent to the fraudulent account, they are typically moved offshore within hours. Recovery is rare.
What Expert Title Will Never Do
x We will never email you a change to wiring instructions you already have.
x We will never ask you to send funds to a different account than the one verbally confirmed with our office.
If you receive an email like this appearing to be from us, it is fraudulent.
Do not act on it. Do not reply to it. Call us immediately at 540-915-0975.
How to Protect Yourself
Verify verbally, every time
Before sending any funds, call our office at 540-915-0975 and confirm the instructions out loud with someone you have spoken to before.
Use a number you already had
Lender's and owner's policies that protect against defects the search couldn't reveal: forged signatures, undisclosed heirs, recording errors, fraud.
1
Treat urgency as a warning sign
Fraud depends on pressure. "Instructions have changed, wire today to avoid delay" is a red flag, not a deadline. A real closing can absorb a ten-minute phone call.
Check the full sender address
Fraudulent domains differ by a single character — experttitlellc.com versus experttitlelic.com or expert-titlellc.com. Check the actual address, not the display name
2
Confirm receipt after sending
Call us after initiating the wire to confirm it arrived. The sooner a misdirected wire is identified, the better the odds of recall.
3
Consider a certified check
For smaller amounts, a cashier's check delivered in person eliminates wire risk entirely. Ask whether that works for your transaction.
4
5
6
Red Flags in an Email
A change to instructions
Any email changing wire details you already have. This is the single most common form the fraud takes.
A slightly wrong domain
One transposed or substituted character in the sender's email address.
Pressure to act today
Urgency, threats of delay, or claims the closing will fall through.
Secrecy
Requests not to discuss the transfer with your agent or lender.
A new phone number
A contact number you haven't seen before, especially paired with instructions to call it instead of the office.
A mismatched account name
Beneficiary name on the wire instructions that isn't Expert Title, LLC.
If You Think You've Been Defrauded
Act within hours. Recovery odds fall sharply after the first day.
Call your bank immediately and request a wire recall. Ask them to issue a SWIFT recall notice.
Call Expert Title at 540-915-0975.
File a complaint with the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov. File within 72 hours — the FBI's Recovery Asset Team can sometimes freeze funds still sitting in a domestic account.
Contact your local FBI field office.
Notify your real estate agent and lender so they can check whether other parties in the transaction are affected.
When in Doubt, Call.
540-915-0975. We would far rather answer a verification call that turns out to be unnecessary than help you recover funds that are already gone.