“This Scam Almost Cost My Client $80,000”
I got a call from my client the day before their closing. They told me that they couldn’t wire their $80,000 down payment to the attorney. They said the number that the attorney emailed them was ONE digit off according to their bank.
I immediately knew this was a problem when they told me that the attorney told them to wire the down payment. I immediately set up a three way call between them and the attorney. I had them tell the attorney what they told me. The attorney immediately said she never sent the email.
She asked that they send copies of the related emails to both of us. The attorney’s email account had been hacked and these clients came within one digit of being scammed for $80,000.
The state police were immediately called and I’m not sure who else. There have been interviews and reports that needed to be filed, the email account shut down and a new one set up.
These buyers and the attorney were pretty shook up and understandably so as emails and accounts get hacked all the time. We need to pay attention.
My learning from all this, I will do an even better job explaining the process to my clients and hopefully each will listen to insure nothing like this happens again. Can you imagine if the wire had gone through? They would not have closed on their home.
Image courtesy of DavidCastilloDominici/freedigitalphotos.net
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