Real Estate Wire Fraud
First Takeaway
- $6.9 Billion Victim losses in 2021
- 2,300+ Average complaints received daily
- 552,000+ Average complaints received per year (last 5 years)
Source: Internet Crime Report 2021(link is external)
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2021)
Real estate wire fraud continues to be one of the most prevalent cybercrimes in the U.S. About 13,638 people were victims of wire fraud in the real estate and rental sector in 2020 (a 17% increase over 2019) with losses of more than $213 million ), according to FBI data. That ranks real estate and rental wire fraud #7 out of more than 30 types of fraud tracked by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The highest reported fraud in real estate in 2020 was Business Email Compromise/Email Account Compromise (BEC/EAC.) Fraudsters will assume the identity of the title, real estate agent or closing attorney and forge the person’s email and other details about the transaction. The scammers will then send an email to the unknowing buyer and provide new wire instructions to the criminal’s bank account.
Based on victim complaint data, BEC/EAC scams targeting the real estate sector continue to rise. From calendar year 2015 to calendar year 2017, there was over an 1100% rise in the number of BEC/EAC victims reporting the real estate transaction angle and an almost 2200% rise in the reported monetary loss Victims participating at all levels of a real estate transaction have reported such activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
[1] Business E-mail Compromise The 12 Billion Dollar ScamThu(link is external)
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jul. 12, 2018)