I know we talked about wire fraud a few weeks ago, but this is obviously not a topic that is going away any time soon. In fact, it seems to be getting worse and garnering more and more national attention as horror stories emerge.
Last week, it was a couple from the Denver area that lost their live savings –$272,535.96 — and now they’re suing their bank, their title company and their real estate agent.
There are obviously a lot of factors that we don’t know just from watching this news story. However, it’s apparent that the couple and their attorney are pointing the finger at multiple parties for allegedly dropping the ball.
Who’s to Blame When Wire Fraud Happens?
So, it begs the question — whose fault is it? Ultimately, the home buyers took the action to wire the funds and someone illegally scammed them out of their money. But were there key pieces missing up to that point that the title company and real estate agent may have been responsible for? Who is looking out for those most vulnerable parties who may not recognize a scam email when it pops into their inbox?
ALTA president Daniel D. Mennenoh wrote last week for The Hill blog about his opinion that lawmakers need to jump into the game and create harsher penalties for cyber crimes that involve wire fraud. He also mentions that the single biggest factor for relieving this issue is for banks to match the payee’s name with the account number. Do you think this is enough? How can we better educate buyers against wire fraud?
We really want to hear what you think! Comment below.
PropLogix hosted a webinar for title agents on cyber security focusing on ways to prevent phishing, hacking, and other manipulative tactics. Click on the link below to watch!
