closing
wire fraud
A scam in which criminals hack or impersonate email accounts of agents, title companies, or attorneys and send fake wiring instructions, tricking buyers into sending closing funds to the criminal's account. Once wired, funds are very difficult to recover. Best practices include verifying instructions by phone using a known number and warning clients early in the transaction.
- Exam tip
- Exams emphasize prevention: verify wiring instructions by calling a known, independently verified number, never one in the email.
- Example
- A buyer receives an email that appears to be from the title company with new bank details; she calls the title office's published number and learns it is fake.
Related terms & state variants
Sources
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Last verified: 2026-10-23