Technology has given us many great things. But technology, like any other progressive advances, is not without its flaws. There will always be someone who tries to find weak spots and take advantage of others.
One of the best technological advances when it comes to money is the ability to seamlessly and immediately send it between parties. Whether it’s paying a housemate for rent, sending a gift to a loved one, paying a bill, or settling a business account, we’re able to send and receive money with the press of a few buttons.
When nothing goes wrong this makes our lives much easier, and better. When something does go wrong, however, it goes very wrong.
Wire fraud is alive and growing. Criminals are getting smarter and more sophisticated, which means we must be extra careful and mindful of how we send and receive money electronically.
In 2017 alone, there was over $5 billion in financial loss due to the electronic fraud – with nearly $1 billion coming from real estate transactions. That’s a lot of money.
While attempted wire fraud attacks are inevitable, you falling victim doesn’t have to be.
Fraudsters have also become more sophisticated, knowledgeable, and hard to detect. As the wire fraud industry has grown, so has their skill set.
Fraudulent Senders
We all remember stories of people who got emails from royalty, requesting their bank account info and promising to sent them bushels of money. Unfortunately, in those days, people fell for it. Nowadays no one would, hence the need for a more refined scam.
If you’re a homebuyer, wire fraud experts may try to contact you by email with false wiring instructions for down payments. If you’re a builder or a flipper, fraudsters may target your loan payments or draws in much of the same manner.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to prevent this – these are the steps you should use when you wire anyone money, even if you’ve sent money to them twenty times before.
You should verbally confirm wiring instructions with the wire receiver every time before you send a wire.
Never rely solely on emails for communication.
Always verify wiring instructions over the phone, with a known number – make sure it’s one you’ve saved and used before, a phone number from a verified Google listing, or from a previously known website.
You should never trust a phone number in an email signature line – fraudulent senders would change this immediately because they’re trying to trick you into believing they are legitimate.
If you’re a borrower looking for a new loan, be sure to ask the lender before signing on with them what their wire transfer protocol is.
Here at Loan Ranger Capital, we take wire fraud protection seriously.
As an example, we encrypt emails that contain any type of sensitive wire information and verify all wiring instructions over the phone with a previously used phone number – even if we’ve wired money to the account before.
We verify the identity of every single point of contact during the loan process and we check over every wire sent from our office with two sets of eyes, to ensure everything is correct. We take every available opportunity to ensure our customers’ information, and their money stays safe.
If you would like any more information about how to stay protected from wire fraud or have any questions about the loans we offer, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We’d love to talk with you!