![]() Or, they could pose as an executive at a company and request changes to the wire transfer destination for a large payment. For example, fraudsters could insert themselves in an email conversation between homebuyers, attorneys, and title companies.In other scenarios, they infiltrate legitimate conversations online and manipulate valid payment information. ![]() Scammers send phishing messages and demand payment via wire transfers.Here’s how a typical wire transfer scam plays out: By the time victims realize they’ve been scammed, the fraudster is gone - with their money. What Are Wire Transfer Scams?Ī wire transfer scam occurs when a con artist poses as a trusted authority - like a bank, colleague, or family member - and convinces victims to send money via electronic bank transfers.īecause wire transfers are nearly instantaneous and extremely difficult to reverse, they present a preferred payment method for scammers. In this guide, we’ll cover how wire transfer scams work, the warning signs to watch out for, and what to do if you wire funds to a fraudster. If you’re dealing with a situation in which you need to wire money, it pays to be extra diligent. Then, they sent digital copies of the actual closing documents and wire transfer instructions - but swapped out the money transfer’s destination for their own.Īccording to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Americans lost over $311 million to wire transfer fraud in 2022 alone. Using spoofed email addresses, hackers hijacked an email thread between Aaron and his real estate agent. Instead, Aaron got caught up in a nightmare having sent his life savings to fraudsters as part of an elaborate wire transfer scam. When Aaron Fisher wired over $900,000 to a Wells Fargo account for the down payment on his dream home, he thought he was securing his family’s future.
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