How to Avoid Wire Fraud When Buying a Home in Memphis

Real estate wire fraud is one of the fastest-growing financial crimes in the country, and it targets the moment you are most vulnerable: right before closing, when you’re about to send your down payment.

How the scam works

Criminals gain access to — or convincingly imitate — the email of an agent, lender, or title company. They watch your transaction quietly, then send a message that looks legitimate: “Our bank details have changed. Please wire your funds to this new account today.” Once a wire is sent to a fraudulent account, the money can be gone within hours.

Red flags

• Any change to wire instructions, especially by email or text
• Urgency or pressure: “send it today or you’ll lose the house”
• Email addresses or domains that are slightly off
• Requests to keep the change confidential
• A phone number in the email that doesn’t match the one on the company’s website

Five rules that protect your money

1. Save your title company’s phone number from its official website at the start of your transaction. For Sure Title, that’s (901) 881-0606.
2. Before you wire anything, call that number and verbally confirm the instructions.
3. Treat every emailed change in payment instructions as fraud until proven otherwise.
4. Use secure digital payment options for earnest money when they’re offered.
5. Call the title company right after sending funds to confirm they arrived.

How Sure Title protects you

We use Closinglock to verify every buyer’s and seller’s identity and to deliver wire instructions only inside a secure, encrypted portal — never as an email attachment. Earnest money can be sent digitally through our secure link, and outgoing payoffs are verified before funds leave escrow.

If you think you’ve been targeted

Act immediately. Call your bank and ask them to recall the wire, then call your title company, and file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The faster you act, the better the chance of recovery.

Related: Wire Fraud Prevention · Escrow Services · Our Technology

This article is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Every transaction is different — consult your attorney, lender, or tax professional about your situation.