In the example given of a recent
scenario, the seller had a Yahoo email that she used to send wire instructions
to her real estate agent. The email account was hacked, and a few days later,
another email was sent with different (fraudulent) wire instructions. While the
fraudulent instructions appeared to come from the seller's Yahoo account, the
account had one letter dropped from the seller's real account.
Believing she was corresponding
with the seller, the real estate agent told the hacker to send the wire
instructions to the purchaser's settlement agent.
Fortunately, several items in the
email and the wire instructions notified the settlement agent to this fraud. For
example, the email had typos and poor English grammar. Also, the fraudster made
the absurd statement that the previously sent (good) wire instructions could
not be used because the receiving account had "reached its TAX-FREE limit
for receiving transfer and therefore they will incur huge taxation of about 40%
of any deposit."
Please stay alert to this form of
email hacking and fraudulent wire instructions, and please share this scam with
others in the real estate community.
Contact me at 434-951-0858 or Tucker@TGBLaw.com if you have questions.
Tucker Griffin Barnes P.C.
Charlottesville, VA
434-973-7474
www.TGBlaw.com
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