Just hit in my market!!!
As a realtor in SoCal, we are extremelyyy busy and our market is rockin', and so are the scammers.
This JUST happened to client of an associate of mine.
The scam works like this:
An email account is hacked, and the signature is stolen and edited. For all intents and purposes we'll say the signature line changed from "ABC Properties" to "ABC Propertiez".
The scammer then emails the client wiring instructions for the agreed upon deposit ($70k in my associates clients case). The emailed looked to be from the buyers agent, and they wired the money to the fraudulent account not knowing it was not to their escrow... Of course, you'd think the money is easily recoverable...it's not... the scammers are using 'mules' to move the money around quickly and in many directions, so it is very hard to track.
$70k of hard earned money...essentially gone...this has been weeks now and is no closer to a resolution.
As a Realtor, our saving grace is in our disclosures. So realtors, disclose that we will never send this type of information via email. As an investor in California, know that we Realtors will NEVER email you wiring instructions, EVER. Please ensure you are working closely with your escrows and not falling victim.
Stay safe everyone!
