WIRE FRAUD- Warning, a new scam on investors

[Kelly N.]

Hello BP-

We are currently under contract to buy a house, and I received an e mail Friday that appeared to come from my realtor stating that the Title Company needed me to wire funds that day to make sure the closing went smoothly.  My realtor shouldn't have anything to do with the deposit, and the wording didn't sound like my realtor, so I quickly confirmed that this was a scam.  He had hacked into my realtor's e mail where he was able to get information on our recent sales agreement and who knows what else.  He then created a similar e mail address to my realtor's and used that to contact me- I didn't even realize it wasn't one of his usual addresses until today.  He had reasons for everything- the wire transfer had to be early b/c the title company was undergoing an audit and wouldn't be able to clear a check for closings from April 15-May 1, not to call him since he was attending a closing, and he even gave a plausible answer when I asked him where the closing would be- he happened to pick the only title company we have used in that city, maybe by finding it in the e mails from past dealings or maybe since it is the closest one to my realtor's address.  The amount requested seemed off at first, then I realize it was the 25% down on the property less the earnest money I had dropped off that day at the realtor's office.  

I told him I wired the money Friday (of course, I didn't) and he has been bugging me for a picture of a receipt since then and wanting to know when the funds would be deposited.  I told him that it takes 24 hours, or one full business day, so he is on pins and needles likely stalking his account balance today, and I have so far ignored his requests for a receipt "for his records".

I have talked to the local police (here) who can't do anything since I didn't transfer funds.  I talked to the bank they are using, who may have flagged their account for fraud but of course can't tell me anything.  My realtor reported the security breach to google since it was a gmail account created to appear to be him, along with the service provided for the account that got hacked.  Lastly, I talked to the local county sheriff's department who is going to go talk to the business owner for the address given in the wiring instructions.   If anyone else has any ideas of who else this can be reported to, please let me know!

So, mainly a warning to all that if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.  We were just a a closing last week and that title company mentioned that they don't deal with wires anymore due to the vast amount or fraud going on.