Wire fraud has emerged as a significant threat to individuals and families looking to purchase homes. This form of fraud can lead to the loss of hard-earned money and, in some cases, the dream home itself. As a Vermont transactional real estate law firm, we aim to arm you with the knowledge and strategies to safeguard your investments against this modern-day menace.

Wire fraud occurs when a scammer impersonates a legitimate party involved in your home purchase, such as a real estate agent, attorney, or title company. These impostors may send fraudulent instructions to redirect your closing funds to their accounts. Unfortunately, once the money is transferred, recovering it is often a complex and challenging process.



To safeguard against these threats, the following preventive measures are strongly recommended:

1. Verify all wiring instructions in person or via a known telephone number, ensuring that you are communicating with legitimate and verified parties,
2. Refrain from emailing financial information, as emails can be intercepted or manipulated by fraudsters.
3. Ensure secure web transactions, looking for "https://" in the URL and typing the web address manually rather than clicking on links in emails.
4. Exercise caution with email attachments and downloads, which can contain malware designed to compromise your personal information or financial details.
5. Be suspicious: It’s not common for attorneys to change wiring instructions and payment info.
6. Keep software and security measures up to date, reducing vulnerabilities on your devices that could be exploited by cybercriminals​.
7. Verify immediately by calling the attorney to validate that the funds were received. Detecting that you sent the money to the wrong account within 24 hours gives you the best chance of recovering your money.