Our digital environment has made it quite easy for all kinds of jobs and technology to thrive. With the addition of Covid, the entire world shifted; most companies were forced to migrate to a virtual workspace, and business was conducted through QR codes and Zoom meetings.
The virtual world has opened a lot of doors for many people, but it has also set the stage for an era where cybercrime is on the rise. Furthermore, there has been an increase in cyber criminals targeting home buyers through email phishing.
As home buyers, you are responsible for many things. One of those things is wiring funds at closing. You must make sure that both the earnest money deposit and remaining cash needed to close (down payment plus closing costs) get paid to the correct escrow account by a specified date in order to maintain a smooth transaction.
While this may seem like an easy task, wiring funds contains risks which you need to be aware of because doing this incorrectly will impact your transaction.
Taking Proper Precautions
As a mortgage banker, security of funds and client information is a top priority, and we diligently work to ensure a safe transaction. That being said, it’s important that our clients take precautions just as vigilantly when reaching the closing process – specifically, wiring their closing funds to escrow.
When it is time to transfer funds, take the following steps:
- Obtain a copy of the wire instructions – these should come directly from escrow/title and are usually sent via an encrypted email which you will need to download
- Confirm the dollar amount of funds that need to be sent is correct
- Call the escrow/title company to verify wire instructions, bank and account information before sending funds
- Double check that you or your financial institution inputted the wire information correctly in your wire request
- Once you send the wire, follow up with escrow/title and ask them to confirm receipt
Please note – It is extremely uncommon for wire instructions to change during a transaction. If you ever get an email with different wire instructions than you had used earlier in the transaction, consider this a red flag as this is likely a phishing attempt.
Do not share any confidential information via an email that you don’t recognize and always confirm the recipient of your funds first before sending any funds.
If you ever have any questions or reservations when sending money throughout the homebuying process, don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly at (760) 930-0569 and one of our associates will be happy to assist you.
