05/12/2026
I had lunch with Chase Crawford at Broker’s Title of Florida this afternoon. Very interesting young guy. We talked about something that every buyer, seller, realtor, lawyer, legal assistant and lender needs to hear about, wire fraud. This sounds so far-fetched, but I’ve heard several other examples of this actually happening from other attorneys as well.
These digital thieves are getting better and better every day. What they do is figure out that there’s a real estate transaction happening. How do they do it, I don’t know. Somehow they hack into an email account, gather information about the deal, the closing, and the title company details. Then, they send a very convincing spoof email to the buyer or lender or attorney with fake wiring instructions, making it appear as if it is actually from the title company.
The scary part is that the email looks completely legitimate, appearing to come from the title company itself. It may have logos, signatures, fake phone numbers, email addresses and details about the transaction that make it seem real. But it’s not.
Where was the leak. Who cares. People think they are wiring money for their closing when, in reality, they are wiring their savings directly to criminal organizations. Seriously, no kidding. This happens all the time, these guys are fearless and they are good at it.
And once that money disappears into the electronic universe, it can be extremelydifficult, sometimes impossible, to recover.
My advice is simple to buyers, lenders, lawyers, legal assistants, ect:
NEVER trust wiring instructions sent by email or text. ALWAYS use the
title company’s secure portal. Always independently verify the information before you wire. Check and double check who you are dealing with. Otherwise, could make a very serious and expensive mistake.
Do not rely solely on a phone number listed in the email because you may not actually be speaking with the title company. Look at the email address, does it have a correct domain name. Does it look weird, is something off.
When’s the last time you changed your password for your email. Maybe you’re the weakest link. Do you want that type of liability.
And frankly, there is nothing wrong with doing it old school, walking the certified check directly into the title company office.
One mistake can cost you or your client , your home, and years of financial security and litigation.
Stay legal, my friends.