Please protect yourself from scams!

Questions About BiggerPockets & Official Site Announcements
9yFollow

Please protect yourself from scams!

Mindy JensenPro Member
BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes

A friend who is not an investor is buying a house to live in. This is her first home purchase.

She has had a less than stellar experience with her agent, her title company and her experience in general. At the last minute on Thursday afternoon, her title company emailed wire instructions to her. At 1:00 am they sent new instructions with different bank information.

She was at first frustrated with the new instructions so last minute, which quickly turned to horror and anger when it was discovered that the new instructions came from an email account that had been hacked.

I am even more angry on her behalf because the title company said this has happened about 30 other times, yet at no point in her interactions with this title company was she warned this was a possibility.

Please read this article about common real estate scams . Take proactive measures and get the wire information from your title company well in advance of the transaction. Do NOT believe last minute emails that reroute you to a new account, and make sure to confirm the account information on the phone after you receive it. 

[email protected]Podcast Guest on Show #261
BiggerPockets
21Reply
79 views

Most Popular Reply

Allen Fletcher
Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2015 · 252 posts · 131 votes
9y

As a general rule of thumb, anytime you get a request for money, transfer request, etc. no matter how urgent it may appear. Call to verify it. If the strange message comes with a phone number ignore it and find the number from another source, then call. These scammers prey on those that are feeling rushed and hassled, which means those that take a minute to verify what they receive usually can defeat them.

I hope your friend has a better experience next time,

Allen Fletcher

9Reply
See this reply in the discussion

39 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Saad Khan
    Wholesaler · Corona, CA · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 28 votes
    9y
    Mindy Jensen This is happening so much nowadays. Some of these people are going through great lengths to appear as the escrow officer or title officer. They are making similar custom email domains that match the escrow/title persons with 1 or 2 letters off. We have had to change our process and now we call to confirm with the escrow/title company their wiring instructions every time we send out any amount of money. It has created more work but it definitely saves you the headache of getting scammed and never seeing that money again!
    1Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    9y

    @Saad Khan  I am buying an industrial strength fax machine...

    Podcast Guest on Show #222
    JLH Capital Partners51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Saad Khan
    Wholesaler · Corona, CA · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 28 votes
    9y
    Jay Hinrichs that's awesome I'm jealous
    0Reply
  • Vera Herlihy
    Investor · Redondo Beach, CA · Member since 2017 · 134 posts · 46 votes
    9y

    @Mindy Jensen Wow! I thought this only happened here, in California. I was recently at a Realtors' Association luncheon where realtors and affiliates network to share ideas, trends or in this case scams and one Title writer warned of this scam. Luckily for us, she was very clear about how you could protect yourself. 

    Thanks for sharing, 

    0Reply
  • Lorin K.
    Tacoma, WA · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    9y

    adam..and make the pc with the passwords secure..keep it off line and a standalone pc. 

    0Reply
  • Lorin K.
    Tacoma, WA · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    9y

    The Fraudulent accounts are over seas in Africa or Europe. Once the money had been wired its long gone.

    1Reply
  • Anthony D.
    Lakeland, FL · Member since 2017 · 44 posts · 25 votes
    9y
    My girlfriend was telling me yesterday that this just happened to a co-worker of hers. Apparently she was in the process of buying a house & got an email from the title or mortgage company to wire funds, she contacted the RE agent about who this person was that is emailing her about wiring funds & was told he knew who person is. She then wired a total of $43,000 to wherever & the next day she got a call saying they never received the money!! Now I am just waiting to hear how this will end for her but I already know she is up the creek without a paddle!!
    0Reply
  • Kyle Doney
    Flipper/Rehabber · Golden, CO · Member since 2013 · 590 posts · 319 votes
    9y
    I can't believe they haven't been sued for negligence..
    0Reply
  • Jaquetta T Ragland
    Real Estate Agent · Winston Salem, NC · Member since 2014 · 486 posts · 303 votes
    9y

    I am very leary of anything involving wire transfers especially after hearing about a similar scam used on craigslist advertisements.

    0Reply
  • Don Souza
    Rental Property Investor · San Rafael, CA · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 16 votes
    9y

    Always perform due diligence and get a second opinion.

    0Reply
  • Lorin K.
    Tacoma, WA · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    9y

    You can make sure that the bank account that you are wiring is correct...even if the title company provided it, they can make a mistake and be off a digit ..and you could see your deposit vanish into thin air. Set up a pre determined amount of money ..say $2.34 and perhaps one other deposit in the same dollar range say for example 1.89. Call the title company and ask them what deposit amounts did they receive from you. If the dollar amounts you sent to there bank account match, then it is the correct bank account. 

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free