How To Stop Your Clients Wired Funds from Being Diverted to a Fraudulent Account
Wiring money is not a game and the funds that are wired are not guaranteed by any banking entity like FDIC or SIPC. Once the send button on the wire is pressed, the funds are gone. If they are sent to the wrong account, they are not recoverable. This is why we need to inform our clients about the importance of Verifying the account they are wiring their closing funds too.
Here is what has been happening. Emails to Clients have been being intercepted with the wiring instructions. The Fraudster then sends the fraudulent instructions to the client instead of the correct instructions. The Client wires the funds to the fraudulent account, the Fraudster sweeps the account and closes it immediately. Your Clients funds are lost and non-recoverable.
How can our clients verify that the funds are going to the correct account?
- When emailing wiring instructions to the client, never say Wiring instructions in the email header line or body of the email.
- Always have the client go to the Bank to Wire Funds
- When at the bank
- Call the attorney that they are closing with and verify the wiring instructions over the phone
- Look up the attorney on the internet and verify that they are valid and the phone number matches
- Verify with the attorney transaction details such as seller’s name, buyers name, property address.
- Make verbal communication with the client regarding the importance of the above details to insure there is no question they understand the importance of the wire going to the correct account.
As the lender, we are making every effort to assure that our clients understand how important the wiring piece of the Mortgage Transaction is.
