• How Wire Fraud Starts

    Cybercriminals are smart. They know buying a home can be confusing and comes with a lot of paperwork. So they monitor compromised email accounts and social media, striking when the iron is hot. Typically, they’ll pose as a real estate agent, title agent or lawyer and email you fake account details or they’ll alert you about “important” changes in your transaction. They’re hoping you won’t notice their emails are a letter off, grammatically incorrect, or similarly misleading. They’re hoping you will click their suspicious links and…

WARNING! WIRE FRAUD ADVISORY

Wire fraud and email hacking/phishing attacks are on the rise!

Please be advised that East Texas Title Companies does not accept emailed or faxed wiring instructions. We require that all wiring instructions be delivered directly to the closing office and will be verified. We do not accept any change in wiring instructions once received.

If you have an escrow or closing transaction with East Texas Title Companies and you receive an email containing Wire Transfer Instructions, DO NOT RESPOND TO THE EMAIL! Instead, call your escrow officer/closer immediately, using previously known contact information and NOT information provided in the email, to verify the information prior to sending funds.

Protect Your Money from Wire Fraud Schemes When Buying a Home
To help raise awareness about wire fraud, ALTA created a 2-minute video that provides four tips on how consumers can protect their money and offers advice on what to do if they have been targeted by a scam.




Wire Fraud is on the Rise
ALTA conducted a survey in March 2021 that revealed 1/3 of all real estate transactions experienced some sort of an criminal attempt at wire fraud. Read more here.


How to Report Wire Fraud to Your Financial Institution and the FBI If you do fall victim to wire fraud, quick action is imperative. ALTA created this 2-minute video that provides tips on what to do IMMEDIATELY if you suspect your money has fallen into criminal hands. Embed video: https://www.alta.org/news/news.cfm?20201013-Video-How-to-Report-Wire-Fraud-to-FBI


The Best Offense is a Good Defense – Stay Informed Most wire fraud scams are executed through compromised email accounts. We urge all consumers involved in real estate transactions to educate themselves BEFORE they sell or purchase real estate and work closely with their title agent. An excellent source of information is available from the Coalition to Stop Wire Fraud: https://stopwirefraud.org