Boston high rise condo buyers: Beware of email fraud

Is your Escrow money safe?

It’s happening everywhere – not just to Boston high rise condo buyers and sellers, hackers are stealing funds thought to be wired to escrow companies and real estate offices. It’s a real threat – be careful!

True story of stolen escrow funds

Hat tip Yahoo News:

James and Candace Butcher were ready to finalize the purchase of their dream retirement home, and at closing time wired $272,000 from their bank following instructions they received by email.

Within hours, the money had vanished.

Unbeknownst to the Colorado couple, the email account for the real estate settlement company had been hacked, and fraudsters had altered the wiring instruction to make off with the hefty sum representing a big chunk of the Butchers’ life savings, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.

A report by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said the number of victims of email fraud involving real estate transactions rose 1,110 percent between 2015 to 2017 and losses rose nearly 2,200 percent.

Nearly 10,000 people reported being victims of this kind of fraud in 2017 with losses over $56 million, the FBI report said.

The Butchers, forced to move into their son’s basement instead of their dream home, eventually reached a confidential settlement in a lawsuit against their real estate agent, bank and settlement company, according to their lawyer Ian Hicks.

Read the full story here