Real Estate Wire Fraud: How to Protect Your Closing Funds

The email said the wiring instructions changed. It was not your title company.

Wire fraud is the most common way closing money goes missing, and it does not start with a hack. It starts with an email that looks like the one you expect. Criminals watch a transaction, learn who sends you documents, then send their own version from an address that looks right. One urgent line about a “revised account” can move your down payment into an account you do not control.

The rule that protects you is simple: stop, verify, then send. If anything about a wire changes, treat it as a signal, not an instruction. Call your title company or escrow officer at a phone number you already have, not one from the email. Confirm the new details out loud. A five-minute call is cheaper than the alternative.

Eight habits worth keeping

1. 1 Never send money on an email alone. Confirm by phone, always.
2. 2 Question last-minute changes to accounts or instructions.
3. 3 Be suspicious of urgency and requests for secrecy. That is how pressure works.
4. 4 Read the sender’s full address, but do not trust it. Email addresses can be forged.
5. 5 Ask your bank about its wire procedures and processing delays before you wire.
6. 6 Ask whether a cashier’s check is an option. Sometimes it is.
7. 7 Confirm receipt of funds through your team by phone, not email.
8. 8 If a request involves sensitive financial details, assume it is fraudulent until proven otherwise.

Buyers and sellers in Hawaiʻi face the same schemes as the mainland. The state’s consumer guidance makes the same point: use the phone number you already have and original transaction documents, nothing from the email itself.

If you think you have been targeted, move quickly. Call your bank and request a wire recall. Tell your real estate team. Save every email, receipt and instruction. File a report with the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov. Reporting matters even if no money moved.

Buying or selling on the Big Island is a sequence of small decisions, and wiring instructions are one where mistakes get expensive. If you are in escrow now or starting soon, I will walk you through each closing step and how your title company will handle wires. Call or text me at 808-769-0727, or use the site contact form, before anything moves. And one commitment: I will never email you asking you to change verified wiring instructions or send sensitive financial information. If you ever receive that, it is not from me.

With aloha,
Carol Porter
REALTOR® · RS-87584 · HI · Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Island Lifestyle