Wire Fraud at Closing in Florida: How the Scam Works and How to Stop It
Wire fraud closing Florida buyers lose their down payment to starts with a hacked email and ends with a wire to a criminal's account. One phone call to a known number prevents it.
Educational content only. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial, legal, or lending advice. Loan programs, rates, and eligibility requirements change frequently. Consult a licensed mortgage professional before making any borrowing decision. Mortgage Capital | NMLS# 1859012 | Licensed in Florida.
Wire fraud closing Florida buyers fall victim to starts with a compromised email account and ends with the down payment wired to a criminal.
One phone call to a number you already have prevents it. Our guide to closing day checklists in Florida puts the call at the top of the list.
How the scam works
Criminals compromise an agent's, title company's or buyer's email.
They watch the transaction and, days before closing, send revised wire instructions from a lookalike address.
The FBI's business email compromise page describes it.
The buyer wires to the criminal's account.
The money is gone within hours.
Why Florida
High transaction volume, many out-of-state and foreign buyers, large cash-to-close figures.
See our guide to buying sight unseen in Florida.
Remote closings mean more email and less face-to-face.
Florida ranks near the top in reported losses every year.
The tri-county area is a target.
The one rule
Confirm wire instructions by phone using a number from the title company's website or your first meeting, not from the email.
Do it every time, even for a second wire.
Never accept changed instructions by email.
Legitimate title companies do not change wire instructions mid-transaction.
A change is the scam.
Red flags
A change in wire instructions.
Urgency: wire today or lose the closing.
A slightly different email address or domain.
A request to keep the change confidential.
A beneficiary bank in a different state or country.
Timing your wire
Send it a day before closing after confirming by phone.
See our guide to closing date delays in Florida.
A morning wire arrives the same day; an afternoon wire may not.
Ask your bank to confirm the beneficiary name matches.
Keep the confirmation.
If it happens
Call your bank immediately and request a recall.
Call the title company and the receiving bank.
File with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center within hours.
The recovery window is measured in hours, not days.
Most recoveries happen in the first 72 hours or not at all.
Who is liable
Usually the buyer, unless the title company or agent was negligent.
Some title companies carry cyber coverage.
Your own bank has no obligation to recover a wire you authorised.
Litigation is slow and uncertain.
Prevention is the only reliable protection.
Cashier's checks
Some title companies accept a cashier's check for smaller amounts.
Slower to clear; fewer fraud vectors.
See our guide to closing costs in Florida.
Large closings still require wires.
Ask what the title company allows.
Sellers are targets too
Criminals impersonate sellers to redirect proceeds.
Title companies verify seller wire instructions by phone the same way.
See our guide to mortgage payoff letters in Florida.
Payoff instructions can be spoofed.
The title company verifies those too.
Email hygiene
Two-factor authentication on your email.
A separate email for the transaction.
Do not discuss wire details over email at all.
Look at the sender's full address, not the display name.
Call when anything feels off.
Secure portals
Many title companies deliver wire instructions through an encrypted portal.
Instructions received any other way should be treated as suspect.
Ask at the first meeting how instructions will be delivered.
Write it down.
Deviation is the warning.
Lender funds
The lender wires the loan proceeds to the title company.
Lenders verify title company accounts independently.
See our guide to what happens at closing in Florida.
Your exposure is your own cash-to-close.
The loan funds are on a separate rail.
Deed fraud is different
Wire fraud steals money at closing.
Deed fraud steals the property by recording a forged deed.
See our guide to title insurance in Florida.
Both target Florida real estate.
Both are preventable with a few habits.
Talk to everyone
Agents, lenders and title companies all warn about wire fraud.
The warning is on every email signature.
Buyers still wire to criminals because the email looked right.
It will look right.
Call anyway.
A worked scenario
Two days before closing, an email from the title company's domain with a new account number, citing an audit.
The buyer calls the title company's main line from the website.
The title company has sent no such email.
The buyer wires to the original instructions the next morning.
The closing proceeds; the criminal gets nothing.
Foreign and out-of-state wires
International wires take longer and pass through more hands, which adds exposure.
Confirm instructions by phone with the title company and with your own bank before sending.
Some foreign banks require the beneficiary details days in advance.
See our guide to foreign national mortgages in Florida.
A test wire of a small amount, confirmed by phone, is a reasonable precaution on very large closings.
Where to start
Get the title company's phone number from its website and save it.
Decide now that you will call before every wire.
Then start a conversation and we will walk you through the funding sequence.