Be careful realtors! Scammers are now coming after your clients through you

Joe Nickelson
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

Nothing can hurt your real estate business like being branded a real estate scammer. It can really bring down all your hard work pretty fast. The worst part is that in most cases the Realtor is totally innocent.

Real estate scams are growing and getting more sophisticated by the day. Fraudsters have found new ways to target people in the real estate industry.

One of the new strategies is to trick home buyers into paying deposit money to scammers instead of a legitimate trust accounts.

This elaborate scam known as the ‘invoice scam’ is targeting buyers through their realtors and lawyers.

Knowing how the scam works will help keep your clients safe from being scammed and protect the good name that you have worked to protect over the years.

How the scam works

The scammers hack into your email and then send out invoices to your clients pretending to be you. The invoices sent carry their account details instead of yours.

They start by approaching you and pretend to be interested in buying a property and want to hire you for the job. They get you to exchange a couple of emails back and forth discussing how you will work together.

Once they are ready to sign you up for the job, they send you an email with a private document that you can only access by entering your email address and password. If you take the bait then they get access to your email and can now monitor all your transactions and correspondences with clients.

The real estate scammers then send emails to your clients reminding them of down payments due. They send them an edited invoice containing your email address and real estate company details but with their bank account details.

Be vigilant

As the real estate agent be careful of the way you interact with potential clients especially via email. Do not open any documents that require your email address and password. If you’re not sure if an email is genuine, request to meet the client and sign documents in person.

Be sure to also caution your clients regarding this new scam. Warn them against paying money to accounts they haven’t used before. To be on the safe side, they should call you to verify the account details before they deposit any money.

A good practice would be to send out an email update to all your current clients immediately notifying them of this new type of scam. Share with them a few tips to keep themselves safe. Below are a few useful tips:

Pro Tips for Home Buyers

  1. Always confirm with your realtor whenever you receive any request to make money transfers even if the request seems uber genuine.
  2. Never respond to people who call you to fix your computer requesting you to grant them remote access. Don’t respond to phone calls or contact about your computer asking for remote access to fix it.
  3. Use a strong password for all your online accounts and always double check the legitimacy of a site whenever you’re asked to provide your passwords. Legitimate organisations will never ask you for your passwords.
  4. Always keep your personal information secure. Be vigilant whenever you are asked to provide your personal details or when requested to provide them to someone. Keep your personal information secure.
  5. Invest in a good anti virus and ensure your software is up to date. This way, your computer will always be safe and protected in case a scammer tries to access it.
  6. Now that you know how this elaborate scam works, be on the lookout and help your clients protect themselves from getting scammed. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be labelled as a real estate fraud.
Joe Nickelson

Written by

Realtor & Author dedicated to helping home buyers & sellers own their dream property. I write books to help homeowners sell their homes for top dollar fast.

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