The real estate industry can benefit a lot from today's advent of technology, particularly in speeding up transactions. However, there are also some risks that come with it. One of the most recent is the closing cost phishing scheme.
HousingWire reported that the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Realtors have warned homebuyers to beware and not to fall victim of hackers stealing their financial information.
The report said that according to the FTC and the NAR, homebuyers who are nearing the completion of their house purchase are the target of the scammers hacking their email accounts and that of the real estate professionals. After obtaining crucial information such as closing dates, the hackers pose as real estate agents and send an email to customers. They tell them that there has been some "last minute changes" to the money-wiring instructions and give them a different account that belongs to the scammers.
Once they got the money transferred, the buyer's account can be wiped out in a "matter of minutes" and they'll never see their money again.
Tom Salomone, NAR President, has advised consumers to be vigilant and not to give their financial information over email.
"Buying a home should be an exciting event, but sadly an email and money-wiring scam is underway targeting consumers' sensitive financial information," Salomone said, per HousingWire. "Buyers should be wary of sending financial information over email, downloading attachments, or responding to email requests to wire money in a real estate transaction."
Salomone has assured that the NAR and the FTC are working together to further understand the scheme so they can help protect homebuyers.
Home sellers are likewise at risk. In the U.K., there were instances where scammers hacked the solicitors email and stole money from the owner's property sale by getting the bank account details where the sale money was to be transferred, per The Telegraph.
