$400,000 stolen by cybercriminals while buying a home. Here's her warning.

[Tom D]

After a yearlong search, Rana Robillard was elated to learn she’d beaten three other bidders for a house in the leafy California suburb of Orinda, just outside of San Francisco.

So when Robillard, who works at a software startup, received an email in late January from her mortgage broker with directions to wire a $398,359.58 down payment to a JPMorgan Chase account, she wasted no time sending the money.

After all, the email appeared to be a response to one Robillard had sent her broker asking about final steps before the closing, which was rapidly approaching.

But on Jan. 30, the day after she’d sent the wire, Robillard got what looked like a duplicate request for the down payment, and it dawned on her that she had fallen for a scam — one that would throw her life into turmoil for the next six months. To her horror, instead of sending a down payment for her future home to the title company, as she believed she had done, Robillard had been tricked into sending her life savings to a criminal.

 

[J Grant]

After a yearlong search, Rana Robillard was elated to learn she’d beaten three other bidders for a house in the leafy California suburb of Orinda, just outside of San Francisco.

So when Robillard, who works at a software startup, received an email in late January from her mortgage broker with directions to wire a $398,359.58 down payment to a JPMorgan Chase account, she wasted no time sending the money.

After all, the email appeared to be a response to one Robillard had sent her broker asking about final steps before the closing, which was rapidly approaching.

But on Jan. 30, the day after she’d sent the wire, Robillard got what looked like a duplicate request for the down payment, and it dawned on her that she had fallen for a scam — one that would throw her life into turmoil for the next six months. To her horror, instead of sending a down payment for her future home to the title company, as she believed she had done, Robillard had been tricked into sending her life savings to a criminal.

With the greed of the top tier in full swing now as they claim it is about "efficiency", the firing of humans and reliance on tech and AI and automation is bringing a host of problems with it - increased hacking, loss of privacy, and new playgrounds for the criminals.

 

[ucbruin]

Stupid....

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Closing in person...only way to fly. Never use wire to send money

 

[Charles West]

That is one stupid broker and client.

 

[Tom D]

this also means someone, the broker or title co, was compromised with a hidden read their email spy program. no.

 

[Elliott]

I once did an appraisal for a purchase on a million dollar property. A week after the report was sent to the lender, I get a call from them and they say, "Don't talk to anybody about this property." I say, 'sure.' Turns out the borrower had set up a phony escrow company and her plan was to put the lenders $900,000 mortgage check in 'her' escrow company. The FBI met her at closing and she was arrested.

 

[Mark K]

Closing in person...only way to fly. Never use wire to send money

You haven't had a title company closing recently, I assume.

They will only accept wire transfers for payment in this area. No exceptions unless its less than $10K.

It is a fertile ground for scammers.

Title companies were scammed for a lot of bogus "certified" checks at closing so now they put the risk on the buyers' backs to wire funds.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

You haven't had a title company closing recently,

2017

 

[J Grant]

Most closings are virtual now.

One only needs to look at the recent airline chaos from a software failure to see where relying on computers, tech, and automation is starting to cause immense problems, and it will only get worse.