Scammers attempted to commit wire fraud in a stunning one third of title wire transactions, according to a survey by the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) 2021 Wire Fraud and Cyber Crime Survey. While these cybercriminals were only successful around 8% of the time, the increased rate of wire fraud and the total volume of losses are quite significant.
Real estate wire fraud is one of the fastest growing cybercrimes in the U.S., according to the FBI (via Realtor.com). In 2019, nearly 12,000 people were victims of real estate-related wire fraud, losing over $220 million. This was a jump of 48% over 2018.
Obviously, wire fraud has a devastating effect on would-be homebuyers. Sometimes, the money is recoverable, but often it is gone forever. Stories abound of families moving into new homes only to find out a few days later that their new home and their life savings are both gone.
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