The Email You Should Distrust the Week of Your Closing

The fake wire email usually looks completely normal. It comes in the same thread with the same signature, and the only thing that’s changed is the account number. I bring this up with every buyer before the closing date is set, because it’s a five-minute fix and it only works if you do it first.

What the numbers look like

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 24,768 business email compromise complaints in 2025, with $3 billion in reported losses. The FBI’s own definition explains why closings get hit: it calls BEC a scam targeting businesses or individuals working with suppliers or businesses regularly performing wire transfer payments, carried out by compromising email accounts and other forms of communication, through social engineering or computer intrusion. It also files some of these complaints under a category it labels BEC and real estate.

The two calls to set up first

The CFPB’s guidance is specific. Identify two trusted individuals who can confirm the closing process and the payment instructions. The examples it gives are your realtor and the settlement agent. Ahead of closing, discuss the process and the money transfer protocols with them in person or by phone, and agree on the phone numbers you’ll use. Then, before transferring anything, confirm the closing instructions, including the account name and number, with those people, either in person or on the number you previously agreed to. Never follow instructions contained in an email, and avoid using phone numbers or links that came in an email, because a scammer can closely replicate the email address, phone number and format of an exchange from your agents.

If the money already went

Contact your bank or wire transfer company immediately and ask for a wire recall. Reporting the error as soon as possible increases the likelihood of getting the money back. Then file a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov. The complaint matters because the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team runs what it calls the Financial Fraud Kill Chain, which moves between banks and FBI field offices to freeze the receiving account, and it often starts from complaints filed on that site.

What the freeze actually recovers

The Recovery Asset Team was established in 2018. In 2025 it initiated 3,900 incidents covering $1,163,919,846 in attempted theft and froze $679,013,183, a 58% success rate on the money it went after. The report is blunt about why speed matters. If you discover a fraudulent transfer, time is of the essence, and you should immediately contact your financial institution and request a recall of the funds along with any necessary indemnification documents.

One case from a closing table

In August 2025 the team took a complaint from people closing on a home who had received an email impersonating their legitimate attorneys. A wire for more than $449,000 went out from their bank. They reported it to their bank, and their attorneys couldn’t get anywhere with the receiving bank either. The freeze request came out of the complaint filed with the FBI, and the receiving bank confirmed the full amount was still in the account and on hold.

Buying in Greater Boston this fall? Ask me for the settlement agent’s number early, save it in your phone, and call it before you send a dollar. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.