Any Ideas On Wire Fraud Issue

[Andrew Jambor]

Hi Everyone,

A 94-year-old client recently sold her home in Rhode Island and moved into assisted living. My company helped move her in, and I just found out that she did not receive the proceeds from her closing after her property closed. She planned to use the proceeds from the closing to pay for her assisted living needs. She checked with her attorney, and they said that it was a wire fraud case, which sounds like it is popular in Rhode Island. I feel terrible for her as she is basically sitting in her room all day, not wanting to talk to anyone, and is not sure what will happen to her. Is there anything she can do? I don't have a lot of experience with wire fraud, so looking for any advice or help I can give to her. 

Thank you in advance!

[Greg Scott]

Evil.

Best you can do is trace the problem.

Confirm to whom and when the title company wired funds.  Where did they get the wiring instructions?  If they came from your client, confirm they match.  What was the source of the wiring instructions, who gave them to her? 

If she just got them in email, and her email had been hacked, you probably won't be able to do much.  However, I've heard of cases where someone close to the victim swapped out the wiring instructions to steal the funds.  If you can pinpoint that, you have a chance of recovering some of the funds.  The FBI should help if you have the evidence.

[Tom Gimer]

Insurers started offering title companies coverage for losses such as this some time ago. Therefore it is quite possible that the title company has a cyber policy or endorsement to their E&O which includes wire fraud. Spend the $ to have an attorney investigate this a bit and make whatever claims are available. It's not always clear who caused the loss until all the facts come out... sometimes title processors make huge mistakes and miss red flags. Good luck.

[Colleen F.]

@Tom Gimer that is so good to hear. Seeing people ripped off like that is distressing.  I actually had them send me a check when I sold my last house due to all the publicity on wire fraud.

@Andrew Jambor  no advice but wish you luck with helping this woman.