Whether you read the title of this message in a Steve Harvey voice or not – the latest information about wire fraud education and our consumers is clear. As an industry, we still aren’t talking about it enough, at least not with the people who need to hear it the loudest.
You may be asking, “How can that be?” Fortune Title talks about this topic all the time – in person, on social and using emails like this. Plus, our own Nicole Timpanaro will be a featured speaker during a virtual presentation called “Wire Fraud Protection & Recovery,” sponsored by the Middlesex County Bar Association on March 7.
But we can’t argue with the results of this “2024 State of Wire Fraud Report” from our friends at CertifID. Not only are Tom and his team some of the smartest voices in the room when it comes to this conversation, but our team relies on CertifID for tools to help better protect our transactions from scammers. (Let us know if you want to learn more about how this company helps us with fraud protection.)
As part of this survey, 650 recent homebuyers were asked about their experience.
- 1 in 4 people said they received some sort of suspicious communication regarding their real estate transaction. Additionally, 10 percent of respondents stated they were a target of a specific fraud attempt.
- More than half of people (51%) said they were only somewhat or not aware at all of the dangers of wire fraud before closing.
- 71% of respondents said they believe it’s someone else’s job to educate them about wire fraud. (Hint: they’re talking about real estate professionals like us.)
The bottom line is that fraudsters are targeting real estate transactions – more than any of us would like to admit. Furthermore, as much as we talk about this issue among ourselves, these warnings aren’t resonating enough with our buyers/sellers or the public at large.
Let’s change that! Switch up your tactics if you need a better way to hammer these warnings home. It’s important for all of us to remember scammers are always looking to make some fast money. It’s on all of us to make sure they strike out.
