Preventing Wire Fraud

In this day and age wire fraud is one area that places a company at higher risk. The people attempting to intercept funds are becoming more creative in their efforts and have an understanding of our industry.

We know our teams are on the front lines to act as the eyes, ears and voice that has proven time and time again to be worthwhile.

Our client presented us with an updated payoff from the existing lender. They had received an email from the borrower that the wiring instructions had been updated. Nicole Snyder, Lead Settlement Officer, recognized that this was out of the ordinary. She promptly called the client to confirm wire instructions and then found that the new payoff had in fact been altered to change the account number along with a few minor additions/deletions of wording of the wire portion. Thanks to her diligence, Nicole prevented a potential loss of $153,000.

Use the First American document below to help identify fraud red flags.

NAD 18.153; NA-2018-016Guideline Preventing Wire Fraud and Other Fraud