5 ms·

I am closing on a house, and this is quite terrifying. How in the world did the scammers know all the exact details of the house? I am guessing the $12k was goo

I am closing on a house, and this is quite terrifying. How in the world did the scammers know all the exact details of the house? I am guessing the $12k was good faith money? In my case, I was able to write a plain old check for my good faith money.

ballenf 6y ago
It was the down payment on the house in this case. And was actually a lot more than $12k. It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty. My advice to anyone buying or selling is to get the attorney's phone number from a known good source in advance, and call them to verify the wiring instructions before submitting. Also compare the bank account name down to the character with the real one (although I don't know how hard it is fake this). Your bank should read off the bank account info you're sending to before you give the confirmation to proceed.
- Reelin 6y ago
  > It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty. Why was an escrow service not an option?
  - sukilot 6y ago
    Escrow is an option. They require wires. Checks can be uncleared long after they clear (another common scam, since checks have no security model), so nobody sane accepts checks from stranges for large numbers.
CobrastanJorji 6y ago
My title company gave us all of the relevant information and account numbers in person on paper and made us sign documents agreeing that we were warned not to trust any information sent via email, web, or phone. You should expect the same.
- sukilot 6y ago
  Most title companies send those warnings via email. "Don't trust email from anyone but me." It's insane.
heavyset_go 6y ago
I could imagine a MiTM scam where the scammer relists the owner's property, and provides the mark with the scammer's email, phone number, mailing address etc. Depending on how sophisticated the scammer is, the MiTM between communication can be transparent to the victim.
- sukilot 6y ago
  This is very common on Craigslist. Scammers offer arbitrary vacant properties for rent and disappear after collecting deposit and first month's rent.
eli 6y ago
No need to be terrified, lots of ways to confirm the wire instructions are legit. Calling a known good phone number or going to the title company in person.
mst 6y ago
Last time I had to wire a large amount of money I used paypal's verification trick - first sent a small amount of money and then phoned the person on the other side of the transaction and asked them to tell me how much money I'd sent them, and only once they'd confirmed that trusted the information to send the balance.

ballenf 6y ago

It was the down payment on the house in this case. And was actually a lot more than $12k. It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty. My advice to anyone buying or selling is to get the attorney's phone number from a known good source in advance, and call them to verify the wiring instructions before submitting. Also compare the bank account name down to the character with the real one (although I don't know how hard it is fake this). Your bank should read off the bank account info you're sending to before you give the confirmation to proceed.

Reelin 6y ago
> It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty. Why was an escrow service not an option?
- sukilot 6y ago
  Escrow is an option. They require wires. Checks can be uncleared long after they clear (another common scam, since checks have no security model), so nobody sane accepts checks from stranges for large numbers.

CobrastanJorji 6y ago

My title company gave us all of the relevant information and account numbers in person on paper and made us sign documents agreeing that we were warned not to trust any information sent via email, web, or phone. You should expect the same.

sukilot 6y ago
Most title companies send those warnings via email. "Don't trust email from anyone but me." It's insane.

heavyset_go 6y ago

I could imagine a MiTM scam where the scammer relists the owner's property, and provides the mark with the scammer's email, phone number, mailing address etc. Depending on how sophisticated the scammer is, the MiTM between communication can be transparent to the victim.

sukilot 6y ago
This is very common on Craigslist. Scammers offer arbitrary vacant properties for rent and disappear after collecting deposit and first month's rent.

eli 6y ago

No need to be terrified, lots of ways to confirm the wire instructions are legit. Calling a known good phone number or going to the title company in person.

mst 6y ago

Last time I had to wire a large amount of money I used paypal's verification trick - first sent a small amount of money and then phoned the person on the other side of the transaction and asked them to tell me how much money I'd sent them, and only once they'd confirmed that trusted the information to send the balance.