Real estate transactions wire transfers targeted by thieves [Video]

Scammers are targeting wire transfers for residential and commercial real estate transactions because the dollar amounts are so high. According to Gregory Heeb, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s St. Louis field office, it’s the fastest growing, most financially damaging internet-enabled crime.

Heeb says thieves are getting at the money through sophisticated email scams. The FBI refers to it as “business email compromise” or “email account compromise.” He says these criminals are sophisticated, do their research, often employ AI and are aware when major wire transfers are about to take place.

So many different parties are involved in a real estate transaction. The scammer throws another legitimate looking email into the mix saying the bank has changed or that there’s a new routing number. Because there’s usually urgency to the wire transfer, people don’t realize until it’s too late that the money has disappeared.

“People are embarrassed when …