FirstBank OnBoarding Manual - Flipbook - Page 61
MORTGAGE FRAUD
MORTGAGE WIRE FRAUD
The speed at which scams are evolving and the lengths scammers are willing to go to in order to fool us are
both impressive and terrifying. If you’re a mortgage originator or involved in the mortgage transaction in any
way, consider these numbers:
The FBI estimates that compromised e-mails may have accounted for as much as $5.3 billion in business losses
globally between 2013 and 2016.
In addition, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that wire-fraud scam complaints from real estate
title companies spiked by 480 percent in 2016.
These figures are estimated to include just 20 percent of the actual number of wire-fraud incidents that hit the
mortgage industry.
THREE STEPS TO PREVENTING WIRE FRAUD
1) Understand How It Happens:
The fraudster will hack into the buyer’s email to find out when they’re expected to close. The fraudster may then
make a deceptive email account to look like someone the borrower has already been corresponding with and trusts
(loan officer, title/closing company). The scammer then sends the buyers a wire request, masquerading as the title/
closing company or even the loan officer. The borrowers then wire their down-payment to the thief’s account, only
to find out later that the closing agent never received the funds. Meanwhile, the authorities are often helpless to stop
wire fraud due to the complexity of the crime and the fact that the fraudster and the money could be anywhere.
2) Look for Red Flags:
• Wire fraud culprits will go through great lengths to disguise themselves. There are often clues that
something’snot quite right. Occasionally, the fraudster may send emails from more than one fake account
trying to collect more information about the transaction, even going so far as to use the lender/closing
agents full signature: including logos, address, phone numbers and photos.
• Watch out for emotions:
• Greed - Phishing emails often dangle a financial reward of some kind if you click on a link or enter your
login information. If an email offers you something that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Urgency - If an email provides a strict deadline for performing an action- be suspicious. Phishing
emails will try to fluster recipients by creating a sense of urgency.
• Curiosity - People are naturally curious and phishers take advantage of this by sending emails that
promise to show us something exciting and forbidden.
• Fear - Scaring recipients is a common tactic in phishing emails. Emails that threaten you with
negative consequences or punishment should be treated with suspicion.
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Onboarding Manual
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