Preventing Wire Fraud at Closing

Every month, somewhere in the United States, a homebuyer wires their entire down payment, $50,000, $150,000, sometimes $500,000, to a criminal instead of to the closing attorney. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has flagged real estate and rental wire fraud as one of the top-loss cybercrimes for five years running. In 2024 alone, reported losses exceeded $446 million, and that is just what was reported. It happens in Savannah. It happens in Pooler. It has happened to sophisticated buyers who have closed on a dozen properties before. And once the wire is gone, it is almost always gone for good. Here is how the scam works and, more importantly, five things you can do to help prevent it.

How the scam works

The criminals do not hack your bank. They hack email, usually a real estate agent's email, sometimes a closing attorney's or a lender's. Once they are inside, they read the thread between you and your agent for weeks. They learn the closing date, the amount, the tone, the nicknames. A day or two before closing, they send you an email that looks exactly like it came from your closing attorney or your agent. Same signature block, same fonts, same casual tone. The subject line says something like "Updated wire instructions for Friday's closing" or "Please use the new wiring info below. Our bank changed routing numbers." The email may contain a PDF attachment with fake wiring instructions pointing to an account the criminal controls. You wire the money. The criminal withdraws it or moves it offshore within minutes. By the time you call the closing attorney on to confirm, the money may already be beyond recovery.

Why banks rarely recover the funds Wire transfers are designed to be final. Unlike a check or an ACH, once a wire is sent and accepted by the receiving bank, there is no chargeback. If you report the fraud within 24 hours and the money has not yet been withdrawn, the FBI's Financial Fraud Kill Chain sometimes recovers the funds. After 72 hours the odds drop close to zero. Five tips to help prevent wire fraud

1. Never trust wire instructions sent by email. Ever. Even if the email looks legitimate, even if it comes from someone you have been emailing for weeks, treat every set of wire instructions as presumptively fake until you have verified them by voice.

2. Verify by phone using a number you looked up yourself. Call the closing attorney's office using the number on the firm's website, not the number in the email signature, not the number in the wiring instruction PDF. Both can be spoofed. Ask the attorney or their paralegal to read the account and routing number back to you.

3. Confirm with your bank that the name on the receiving account matches the law firm. Most wires only verify account and routing numbers, not the name. Ask your bank to do a name match before releasing the funds. Many now offer this service on request.

4. Send a small test wire first. On large closings, wire $100 a day in advance, confirm by phone that the closing attorney received it in the correct account, and then send the balance. The test wire costs you a $25 fee and can save your entire down payment.

5. Call the closing attorney within one hour of sending the wire. Confirm receipt in real time. If something is wrong, that one-hour window is often the difference between recovery and total loss.

What we do at Connell Law and Savannah VIP Closings

We take the threat of wire fraud so seriously that we chose our closing software, Qualia, in part because of its industry-leading fraud prevention add-on, Qualia Shield. We send wire instructions only through Shield's encrypted, password-protected channels, and our written instructions include a printed statement that we will never change wiring information by email. We require voice verification for every incoming wire on every closing.

Additionally, Qualia Shield protects every closing performed by Connell Law and Savannah VIP Closings with the following:

Automated Payoff Agent: A key 2026 addition that automates the mortgage payoff process, managing identification, authorization, and risk assessment to prevent fraud in this high-risk step. Enhanced Seller Identity Verification: Uses public record checks and digital footprint analysis to verify the legitimacy of sellers without requiring their direct involvement. Facial Geometry & ID Scanning: Users scan IDs with phones; the system uses AI to analyze the barcode and calculate a similarity score between the ID and a facial scan, boasting high accuracy. Email & Wire Verification: Features to detect if incoming emails (Gmail/Outlook) are from legitimate participants and to verify bank routing/account numbers against known fraud patterns. $2M in Insurance Coverage: Qualia Shield offers up to $2 million in insurance for wire transfers that are reviewed and assessed as "low risk" by the system. If you are closing on a property in Savannah or coastal Georgia and you have any doubt at all about a wire instruction you received, stop and call us before you send a dollar.

J. Patrick Connell handles residential and commercial real estate closings across Savannah and coastal Georgia. Call (912) 675-5496 before you wire.