In interviewing the affected agents, the
responses have a number of common themes:
“I never thought it would happen to me.”
“I knew the risks, but hadn’t adequately
communicated to or implemented
processes for my front line people.”
“I’ve communicated with the employees
about these risks; the First American
Title flyer is up in our lunchroom, but
they sent the wire anyway.”
Falling victim to a wire fraud scheme or
related fraud can be financially devastating to
agents and their business relationships.
Make sure you are insured properly against
these risks and know that a fraud attempt
absolutely can, and likely will at some point,
be made against your business.
Communicate with your employees loudly
and often about these risks and be sure to
establish procedures and protocols to guard
against failures.
THERE HAS BEEN
A RESURGENCE OF
AGENTS FALLING
VICTIM TO INSTANCES
OF WIRE FRAUD.
Wire Fraud
Wire and other disbursement instructions received
by email should be confirmed by telephone at a
known or independently-confirmed number, NOT the
telephone number at the bottom of the email you are
trying to confirm.
Be especially skeptical of any change in disbursement
instructions. Who really changes their wire instructions
that frequently?
Confirm the account to which you are wiring is in the
name of the party entitled to the funds.
Consider providing YOUR wire instructions to your
customers via hard copy only, with a notation: With cyber
crimes on the increase, it is important to be ever-vigilant.
If you receive an email, or any other communication that
appears to be generated from our office, containing
new, revised or altered bank wire instructions, consider it
suspect and call our office at a number you trust. Our bank
wire instructions seldom change.
Be leery of a new deal coming to your office out
of nowhere. Example: “I have a sales contract and a
deposit for property I am purchasing, and I was referred
to your office. Will your office act as title and settlement
agent for my transaction?” This conversation is typically
followed by a subsequent request to wire out funds
originally deposited by check.
Be suspicious of emails from free, public email
account domains as they are often a source of risk.
Watch out for phishing emails with embedded links,
even when they appear to come from a trusted source.
Help protect your agency by keeping these helpful tips near
the desk of everyone in your office:
“I never thought it would happen to me!”
AN INDEPENDENT POLICY-ISSUING AGENT OF FIRST AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY
©2018 First American Financial Corporation and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NYSE: FAF
O:
The information contained in this document was prepared by First American Title Insurance Company (“FATICO”) for
informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. FATICO is not a law firm and this information is not
intended to be legal advice. Readers should not act upon this without seeking advice from professional advisers.
First American Title Insurance Company makes no express or implied warranty respecting the information presented
and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. First American, the eagle logo, First American Title, and
firstam.com are registered trademarks or trademarks of First American Financial Corporation and/or its affiliates.
AMD: 02/2018
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McManamy Jackson Hollis, LLC
