Wire Fraud Protection
Protecting your money is the part of the closing that cannot be undone.
Real estate wire fraud is one of the most damaging crimes in the country, and a closing is exactly the kind of large, time-pressured payment that criminals target. Prime Title and Escrow protects your funds with attorney-led escrow, phone-verified wire instructions, and a clear set of steps you can follow. Here is how the fraud works, how we guard against it, and what you should do every time you move money.
Written by Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Principal and real estate attorney at Prime Title and Escrow
The threat
Wire fraud is the one closing mistake you cannot undo.
Almost everything that can go wrong at a closing can be fixed. A title problem can be cleared, a document can be corrected, a date can be moved. A wire sent to a criminal usually cannot be reversed. By the time anyone notices, the money has often been pulled out of the receiving account and is gone for good.
The scheme is called business email compromise, and it is simple and effective. A criminal gains access to an email account in the transaction, watches quietly, and then poses as a trusted party to send fake or altered wire instructions at the moment money is about to move. The instructions look legitimate. They reference the right people and the right deal. And they send your money to the criminal instead of to closing.
The FBI reported $16.6 billion in losses in 2024, with $2.77 billion of that from business email compromise.
Real estate is one of the sectors these schemes target most, because the payments are large, the deadlines are tight, and the parties are often communicating with people they have never met in person.
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024 Annual Report
How the scam works
The same pattern, almost every time.
Wire fraud in a real estate deal usually follows a predictable sequence. Knowing the pattern is the first step to stopping it, because the whole scheme depends on you acting quickly and not stopping to verify.
1
A criminal quietly watches email in the deal
2
They pose as a trusted party
3
They send fake or changed wire instructions
4
The funds are wired to their account
5
The money is moved within hours
6
The fraud is discovered too late
How we protect your funds
The safeguards built into every closing we handle.
Protected escrow
Your funds sit in a protected escrow account, handled under the rules that govern settlement agents, not in a general operating account.
Phone-verified instructions
We confirm wire instructions by phone using known numbers, and we expect you to do the same before sending anything.
No surprise email changes
We do not send or change wire instructions by surprise email. If you receive one that does, treat it as fraud until you confirm it by phone.
A trained team
Our team is trained to spot the impersonation attempts that target closings, and to slow down when something looks off.
Your wire-safe checklist
Before you send a dollar, do these five things.
The single most important defense against wire fraud is you, slowing down and verifying before you send. No legitimate party will ever lose money because you took ten minutes to confirm. Make these five steps a habit on every transaction.
Never trust wire instructions that arrive or change by email.
Call our office at a number you looked up yourself.
Confirm the instructions with a person by phone.
Ask your bank to confirm the receiving name, not just the number.
When anything feels off, stop and call us.
If you suspect fraud
If you think you sent money to the wrong account, move fast.
Recovery depends almost entirely on speed. Banks can sometimes recall or freeze a fraudulent wire if they are alerted within hours, before the criminal moves the money again. If you suspect you have been targeted or have already sent funds, do all of these right away, in any order.
1
Call your bank and ask them to recall the wire
2
Call our office immediately
3
File a complaint at ic3.gov
4
Contact your local FBI field office
5
Act fast, every hour counts
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, at ic3.gov, is where wire fraud and business email compromise should be reported, and quick reporting through its Recovery Asset Team has helped freeze fraudulent transfers before the money disappears. The sooner you act, the better your chances.
Across two states
The same protection in Virginia and West Virginia.
These safeguards apply to every closing we handle, residential and commercial, throughout Virginia and West Virginia, including the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle. Wherever your money moves through our escrow, it moves under the same protections and the same attorney-led care.
Common questions
What buyers and sellers ask about wire fraud.
What is real estate wire fraud?
It is a scam where a criminal poses as a trusted party in your transaction, the title company, your agent, or your lender, and sends fake or altered wire instructions to divert your money to their account. It usually starts with a compromised email account and is timed for the moment funds are about to move. Because wires are fast and hard to reverse, the money is often gone before anyone notices.
How do criminals get the information to target my closing?
Most often by gaining access to an email account belonging to someone in the transaction, then quietly reading messages to learn the names, the timeline, and the dollar amounts. With that, they can craft instructions that look completely legitimate. This is why we never rely on email alone for wire instructions and ask you to verify everything by phone.
How does Prime protect my money?
We hold your funds in a protected escrow account, confirm wire instructions by phone using known numbers, and never send or change instructions by surprise email. Our team is trained to recognize impersonation attempts and to slow down when something looks off. Attorney-led escrow means there is real accountability for how your money is handled.
How do I verify that wire instructions are real?
Call our office using a number you looked up yourself, not one from the email or document, and confirm the instructions with a person by phone before you send anything. Ask your bank to confirm the receiving name, not just the account number. Treat any instructions that arrive or change by email as fraud until a person confirms them. If anything feels off, stop and call us.
What do I do if I think I sent money to a scammer?
Move fast, because recovery depends on speed. Call your bank immediately and ask them to recall the wire, call our office, file a complaint at ic3.gov, and contact your local FBI field office. Banks can sometimes freeze a fraudulent wire if they are alerted within hours, so do not wait to see whether it sorts itself out.
Do these protections apply in both Virginia and West Virginia?
Yes. Every closing we handle, residential and commercial, throughout Virginia and West Virginia, including the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle, moves under the same escrow protections and verification steps. The threat is the same in both states, and so is our response to it.
Close with a team that treats your money like it cannot be replaced, because often it cannot.
Get an attorney-led closing with protected escrow and verified wire instructions from the first day of your file. We will tell you exactly how your funds are handled and exactly how to keep them safe.
Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Principal, Prime Title and Escrow
(703) 552-4155
Serving all of Virginia and West Virginia