⚠ Wire Fraud Warning
We will never send wire instructions by email, and we will never email you a change to instructions you already have. Any such message is fraudulent, even if it appears to come from us.
Before transferring any funds, call 256-434-1678 using a number you already have — not a number from an email — and confirm verbally with someone you know.
This is the most common way money is lost in a real estate transaction, and one phone call prevents it.
Call your bank right now and request a recall of the funds. Then call the closing attorney and file a complaint at ic3.gov. Recovery depends almost entirely on how fast the first call is made — do not read the rest of this page first.
If it has not happened: the rule that defeats this entirely is one phone call. Verify wire instructions verbally, on a number you already had, before sending anything.
Why real estate is the target
Three things line up in a property closing that line up almost nowhere else: a large sum, a known date, and a chain of people emailing each other who have often never met.
A buyer wiring a down payment does not find it strange to receive instructions by email. A seller expecting proceeds does not find it strange to be asked where to send them. The transaction supplies the criminal with the story; they only need to change one number.
What the email looks like
This is the part people get wrong. They expect a badly written scam. What actually arrives is correct.
- Your name, spelled properly
- The right property address
- The correct closing date
- The exact amount you owe, to the cent
- The right people copied in
- A signature block that matches the one you have seen ten times
Because they have been reading the thread for weeks. Sometimes the message arrives from the real account, because that account is the one that was compromised. Sometimes it is a domain one character different from the real one, which nobody notices on a phone.
A change to instructions you already had. Urgency, or a reason the change “has to happen today.” A request to keep it between you. A slightly different domain. A reply-to address that differs from the from address. A bank in a state with nothing to do with the transaction.
Any one of these should stop you. But the good ones have none of them — which is why the rule below does not depend on spotting anything.
Verify by voice, every time.The rule
Call the office on a number you already had — not one from the email — and confirm the wire instructions verbally before sending anything.
Every time. Including when nothing looks wrong. Including when the instructions have not changed. Including when it is inconvenient.
This single habit defeats the entire attack.And the corollary, which is our firm policy and worth stating plainly: we do not change wire instructions by email. If you receive anything that changes, updates or corrects wire instructions and it appears to come from us, it did not.
Closing with us and not sure about something you received?
Call. There is no such thing as a wasted call on this, and there is no way to undo the other outcome.
If it has already happened
Speed is the entire game. Funds are typically moved onward within hours, and the chance of recovery falls sharply after the first day.
- Call your bank immediately and request a recallUse the words “fraudulent wire transfer” and ask them to initiate a recall and to send any indemnification documents required. Institutions have different policies and different escalation paths. Do this before anything else on this list.
- Ask your bank to contact the receiving bankThe receiving institution can sometimes freeze the account if it is reached before the funds move on.
- File a complaint at ic3.govThe FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The FBI has a process for working with financial institutions to freeze fraudulently transferred funds, and it depends on the report arriving quickly. File it the same day — the same hour if you can.
- Notify your local FBI field officeIn addition to the online complaint, not instead of it.
- Tell the closing attorney and everyone in the chainOne compromised inbox affects every transaction that inbox touched. Other people may be minutes away from the same email.
- Preserve everythingDo not delete the email. Keep the full headers, the wire confirmation, and a written timeline of exactly when you did each of the above. This is the record that any recovery effort runs on.
- Change passwords and enable two-factor authenticationOn every email account involved, from a device you trust.
Recovery is possible and it happens — but it depends on hours, not days. Nobody can promise you an outcome, and any lawyer who does is not being straight with you.
What is certain is that the odds fall with every hour that passes. Make the call to your bank before you finish reading this.
FBI IC3 guidance: on discovering a fraudulent transfer, immediately contact your financial institution and request a recall, and file with IC3 as soon as possible.For realtors and lenders
You are in the chain, and your inbox is as much a target as your client’s. Three things worth doing:
- Two-factor authentication on every email account. Most successful compromises are a stolen password, not a technical exploit.
- Tell clients the rule at the start, not the week of closing. By the time funds are due they are receiving a lot of email and reading none of it carefully.
- Put a verification line in your signature block so the instruction to call is in every message you send.
Why this page exists
We put the wire warning on every closing page we publish and in every email that leaves this office. It is the one part of a real estate transaction where a client can lose everything in a single click, and where a single phone call prevents it completely.
If you take nothing else from this page: verify by voice, on a number you already had, before you send money.
Wire fraud questions
How do criminals know when I am closing?
They read the email. One account somewhere in the chain — agent, lender, title company, buyer or seller — is compromised, usually through a stolen password, and they monitor it quietly until the day funds are due.
The email came from my agent’s real address. How is that possible?
Because it may genuinely have come from that account. A compromised inbox sends real email. This is exactly why verification has to happen by voice on a known number rather than by replying.
Will my bank get the money back?
Sometimes, if you reach them fast enough. Recall requests and law enforcement freezes can work in the first hours and become much harder afterwards. Nobody can promise an outcome — but the first call to your bank is the single highest-value thing you can do.
Does homeowner’s insurance or title insurance cover this?
Do not assume so. Coverage for wire fraud losses is limited and varies enormously by policy. Check with your carrier rather than relying on a general answer.
Is a cashier’s check safer than a wire?
It removes this particular risk, since there are no instructions to alter. Confirm with the closing office what they accept and by when — some funds have to arrive in advance regardless.
What if I only realise days later?
File with ic3.gov and contact your bank anyway. The odds are worse, not zero, and the report matters to the wider investigation even if your funds are not recovered.
Do you change wire instructions by email?
No. Never. If you receive anything appearing to come from us that changes, updates or corrects wire instructions, it did not come from us. Call the office on a number you already had.
Verify by voice. Every time.
Residential and commercial closings at 300 West Green Street, Athens — serving Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties.
Daniel Shawn Pickens
Attorney at Daniel S. Pickens Law in Athens, Alabama. The firm handles real estate closings and title work, deeds, estate planning and probate, business formation and contracts, and DUI and traffic defence for clients across Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties.
Questions about a closing? Email closing@dsp.law or call 256-434-1678.
Daniel S. Pickens Law · 300 West Green Street, Athens, Alabama 35611
