Reporting it Within 72 Hours Gives You the Best Chance of Recovering Funds
Attention real estate customers! If you receive any changes to wiring instructions before closing day: be very suspicious – even if the request looks official, contains accurate details about your transaction and appears to come from someone you trust.
In 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported over 1,008,597 complaints exceeding $20.8 billion in losses. Over $275 million of those losses came from real estate transactions.
Real estate wire fraud is a sophisticated scam that targets both businesses and individuals performing wire transfers of funds. It often stars with business email compromise (BEC), which occurs when scammers compromise legitimate business email accounts, pretend to be a trusted source, and then trick customers into wiring settlement funds into the wrong account.
If you are involved in a real estate transaction and recently complied with an unexpected change in wiring instructions, you could already be a victim of wire fraud and need to act fast. Reporting the incident within 72 hours of authorizing the wire transfer gives you the best chance of getting your money back. Follow the steps below to know for sure and start the recovery process.
Step 1: VERIFY
Call the real person, not the alleged sender of the wiring instructions, using a known, trusted phone number. (NEVER use any contact information from the suspicious communication.) Ask if the trusted source sent the new wiring instructions. If not, and you already wired funds, you are a victim of wire fraud.
Step 2: CALL YOUR CLOSING AGENT
Call your closing agent (usually your title company). They will notify other parties involved in the transaction and follow their company’s procedures for responding to wire fraud.
Step 3: NOTIFY SENDING & RECEIVING BANKS
- Call your bank’s fraud department. Ask the sending bank to recall the wire sent to the receiving bank because of fraud and provide the details for the wire.
- Ask the sending bank to initiate the FBI’s Financial Fraud Kill Chain if the amount of the wire transfer is $50,000 or above; the wire transfer is international; a SWIFT recall notice has been initiated; and/or the wire transfer has occurred within the last 72 hours.
- Call the receiving bank’s fraud department to notify them that you have requested a recall of the wire because of fraud. Provide the details for the wire and request that the account be frozen.
Step 4: REPORT TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Local Police/Sheriff: www.policeone.com/law-enforcement-directory
- FBI Field Office: www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices
- Secret Service: www.secretservice.gov/contact/field-offices
Step 5: CONFIRM WIRE RECALL
Call the sending bank back to confirm that the wire recall request was processed.
Step 6: FILE A COMPLAINT WITH IC3
Filing a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) helps streamline communication between financial institutions and law enforcement to expedite the recovery of funds involved in fraudulent domestic transfers.
Visit www.ic3.gov and provide the following information to support your claim:
- Victim's name, address, phone number, and email
- Financial transaction information (e.g., account information, transaction date and amount, who received the money)
- Subject's name, address, phone number, email, website and IP address
- Specific details on how you were victimized
- If you received a spoofed email that appears to come from a legitimate business, copy and save the email header
- Any other relevant information
Step 7: SECURE YOUR ACCOUNTS & DEVICES
Fraudsters have been known to hack the personal email accounts of clients associated with business email compromise, so it’s also recommended that you:
- Change all passwords immediately.
- Set up two-factor authentication, whenever possible, for services accessed through the internet, such as email, banking, and social media.
- Disconnect your computer, smart phone and other mobile devices from the internet, in the event they are infected with malware. Security experts recommend having these devices evaluated by a professional who can identify and address security threats.
Unfortunately, once your money is wired into a new account, you are not likely to get it back. The FBI has no jurisdiction to recover money in offshore accounts. If you have the resources, you may want to consider hiring a lawyer in that country to recover what you can. Most banks do not reimburse funds lost to fraud. Learning and following best practices for preventing wire fraud can help protect your funds in the future.
