Last week we touched on the importance of educating yourself and your staff on the dangers of Cyber Crime. This week we wanted to take it one step further by breaking down the various types of Social Engineering, or Cyber Crime threats. Here are the top social engineering threats you should be aware of. DOWNLOAD PDF
Another threat that we face is wire fraud. Wire fraud has been a growing concern in our industry, so last month we surveyed our customers to see how concerned they were with this issue. Over 66% of people were highly concerned over this issue. At TitleSmart, we have put numerous procedures in place to not only prevent wire fraud from happening to our customers, but also educate the consumer about the dangers.
In an interview with Realtor Mag, Katie Johnson, General Counsel for the National Association of Realtors, said “Once [hackers] find a victim who’s in the process of buying a home, they’ll send a spoof e-mail that looks like it’s from their agent, title representative, or attorney, and it will say there are “new” wiring instructions, which includes a fraudulent account. The home buyer will then unwittingly wire funds directly into the hacker’s account.”
While we don’t mean to scare customers, or make them feel overwhelmed during a real estate transaction, it is imperative that they are aware of these dangers so they can keep their funds safe and secure. The video below further breaks down how these hackers gain access to your information. If at any point you are concerned or have questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 651-779-3007.