How To Protect Yourself From Wire Transfer Fraud During Mortgage Closing

Criminals are getting more clever and cunning in the tactics they use to obtain money online fraudulently. Due to the vast amounts of money that get transferred during the closing process, these transactions are subject to frequent criminal attack.

All parties to a real estate transaction are targets for wire fraud. Certainty takes numerous precautions to protect funds being transferred between the home buyer and home seller.

Here are some self-protection strategies to minimize exposure to possible wire fraud during a mortgage transaction:

• Never rely on an email providing alternative wire instructions. Parties to a mortgage transaction rarely change wire instructions in the course of a transaction.
• Always verify wire instructions, specifically the ABA routing number and account number, by calling the party who sent the instructions to you. Do not call the phone number provided in the email containing the wire instructions. Always dial a phone number you have called before or can otherwise verify. The phone numbers for every Certainty mortgage professional can be accessed here and at the bottom of every email they send you.
• To verify a mortgage professional’s identity, enter a loan officer’s name or NMLSR number into the NMLS Consumer Access database to verify they are a licensed mortgage originator, and to compare their address and phone number with the communication you are receiving from them.
• Use complex email passwords that contain a combination of mixed case letters, numbers and symbols. To make your passwords greater than eight characters memorable, create a phrase that only makes sense to yourself. Change your passwords often and do not reuse the same password for other online accounts, especially for financial and banking accounts.
• Use multi-factor authentication for email accounts. Your email provider or work IT staff are trustworthy places to obtain instructions on how to implement this feature. Here is how to set up 2-step authentication for your Google gmail account.

At any point during your mortgage transaction, if you ever doubt the legitimacy of any instruction you have been given, please contact your loan officer or Certainty Customer Relations on 866-599-5510 (toll-free), select option - Customer Relations, Monday to Friday from 8 am to 5 pm Central Time.

To get more internet crimes prevention tips or to report an incident, go to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.