How the scam works
Real-estate closing wire fraud is one of the costliest scams the FBI tracks. Criminals monitor a transaction — often after compromising an email account belonging to a title company, agent, or attorney — and wait until just before closing. Then they send the buyer an email with “updated” wire instructions that look exactly like the real thing but route your down payment to their account. By the time anyone notices, the money is gone.
Stop it before you send
- Verify by phone, every time. Before wiring, call your title or escrow company on a number you looked up yourself and confirm the account and routing numbers out loud.
- Distrust emailed changes.Legitimate wire instructions rarely change at the last minute. A sudden “new account” email is a red flag until proven otherwise.
- Watch for look-alike addresses. Scammers use domains and reply addresses that differ by a character. Check carefully, and do not reply to the suspect thread.
- Ask what protections exist for the specific wire before you send it.
If you already wired the funds
- Call your bank now and request a wire recall and a freeze on the receiving account.
- File with the FBI at ic3.gov the same day — speed enables the Financial Fraud Kill Chain.
- Notify the title company, your agent, and the receiving bank.
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and file a police report.
- Preserve all emails with full headers, wire confirmations, and call logs.
When to bring in help
Closing-fraud losses are large and the liability picture is contested, so evidence matters. A forensic examiner can trace the compromised email and preserve court-admissible proof for a bank claim or lawsuit. Wire fraud recovery explains the time-critical first moves and what a real investigation can and cannot do — honestly, including when the money cannot be recovered.
See also: Scam & Fraud Recovery Help — the hub that maps every scam type and the free reporting steps.
Sources
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 2024 Internet Crime Report — business email compromise and real-estate wire fraud, 2024. https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), File a Complaint. https://www.ic3.gov/
- U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mortgage closing scams and how to protect your closing funds. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
