Scammers are targeting wire transfers for residential and commercial real estate transactions because the dollar amounts are so high. According to Gregory Heeb, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's St. Louis field office, it's the fastest growing, most financially damaging internet-enabled crime.
Heeb says thieves are getting at the money through sophisticated email scams. The FBI refers to it as "business email compromise" or "email account compromise." He says these criminals are sophisticated, do their research, often employ AI and are aware when major wire transfers are about to take place.
So many different parties are involved in a real estate transaction. The scammer throws another legitimate looking email into the mix saying the bank has changed or that there's a new routing number. Because there's usually urgency to the wire transfer, people don't realize until it's too late that the money has disappeared.
"People are embarrassed when it happens," says Agent Heeb, "But they shouldn't be. Because you're dealing with a level of sophistication that's been refined over the years."
That embarrassment keeps many people from reporting it. In 2023, the FBI received 21,489 complaints about this scam, totaling almost $3-billion. But because many don't report it, those numbers are likely much higher.
Heeb recommends picking up the phone and questioning an email that changes banks, numbers or anything regarding the wire transfer. If you get scammed, immediately contact the bank and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
FBI's St. Louis office calls it fastest growing, most financially damaging internet-enabled crime
