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Home Wire fraud prevention

Protect your closing funds.

Never send money based on emailed instructions. Call us first, every time.

Wire fraud prevention

Real estate closings are a target. A phone call stops it.

Criminals target real estate closings with emails that look like they come from your attorney, realtor or lender, asking you to wire your funds to a "new" account. Once money is wired to the wrong account it can be very difficult to recover.

Please call our office through an independently verified number and we will provide the wiring instructions to you verbally. We can also follow up with an email after the phone call to confirm those instructions.

What we will never do

  • Send or change wiring instructions by email or text message alone.
  • Ask you to wire your funds to a different account at the last minute.
  • Pressure you to send money before you have spoken with us by phone.
  • Ask for your passwords, PINs or one-time codes.

Warning signs

  • An email saying the bank details have "changed" or been "updated".
  • Urgency: "wire today or the closing will be delayed".
  • An email address or website that looks almost, but not exactly, like ours.
  • A phone number in the email that differs from the one on this website.
  • Instructions to send funds to a person's name or to an overseas account.

How to send your funds safely

  1. Call us first

    Use a phone number from this website or from your closing documents, never a number from an email.

  2. Confirm the details by phone

    We will give you the wiring instructions verbally, and can follow up with an email after the call to confirm them.

  3. Tell us when the wire is sent

    Call us once your bank has sent the funds so we can confirm they have arrived.

If something doesn't feel right

Act quickly. The first hours matter.

  1. Call your bank immediately and ask them to recall the wire.
  2. Call our office right away.
  3. Report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
  4. Keep the emails and messages; do not delete them.

Contact us.

(843) 407-2487

For experienced and dedicated legal representation, contact Wylie & Washburn today. We will work around your schedule.

Send us a question [email protected]