Be Vigilant. Protect Your Money From Wire Fraud Schemes.
Serenity Title & Escrow is serious about security.
What is real estate wire fraud?
Real estate wire fraud occurs when a criminal provides a property buyer with fraudulent wiring instructions that direct closing funds to the criminal’s own bank account, rather than the title, settlement, or closing company. There are many ways in which this happens—the email accounts of attorneys, real estate agents, or title company representatives can be hacked or spoofed, or a scammer may call a buyer and pretend to be from the title company.
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What can you do to protect yourself from real estate fraud?
If you are a consumer, the best way to protect yourself from real estate wire fraud is to understand the closing process and verify any requests for funds or personal information with the requesting party before sending them. For example, if your attorney emails you and tells you that funds need to be wired a day in advance, call their office and verify this. You may also wish to ask if your title company uses Closinglock, which offers the best possible protection against real estate wire fraud.
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What should you do if the wire has already gone out before you suspect it is a scam?
Call your bank immediately to see if the funds can be retrieved or recalled and contact your realtor, attorney, and title company. Change your email password in case your account has been hacked and call your local police department. The crime should also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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Protect Your Money When Buying a Home From Closing Scams [Video]
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Simple. Convenient. Secure.
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The TrustFunds platform offers layers of digital security far more advanced than the paper check. Agents, sellers, and trust account holders will never see your bank account information. Plus, it’s quicker and more convenient than using a paper check because the check doesn’t need to pass through multiple people, and you can make the payment anytime, day or night.
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Step 1 - Agent clicks TrustFunds link on MLS listing
On the MLS listing details page, the buyer’s agent clicks the TrustFunds link to create a payment request for the buyer.
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Step 2 - Agent provides buyer and payment information
Agent selects the Broker, Title Company, or Law Firm, as noted in the purchase agreement, to hold the earnest money. A list of active TrustFunds members is shown for selection. The agent enters the buyer's name, email and amount of earnest money to be paid.
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Step 3 - Buyer makes their payment
TrustFunds automatically notifies the buyer through email and provides access to submit their payment through our secure portal. The buyer enters their bank account information to securely submit their earnest money payment.
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That’s It – You’re Done!
All parties receive automated email updates as the payment processes (3-4 business days). Plus, agents, brokers, title companies, and law firms can access full payment status information at any time in their TrustFunds account.
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What is Closinglock?
Closinglock is a service for companies to use to securely share wire transfer instructions and other documents with their customers (residential or commercial buyers and lenders) to combat wire transfer fraud.
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What is Plaid?
Plaid offers a secure way to connect to thousands of banking and financial institutions. For Closinglock, this is how banking information is verified so that you keep your wire transfer transaction safe.
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Serenity Title & Escrow will use Closinglock to send the wire transfer instructions with our customers (buyers and lenders). The buyers and lenders simply log into Closinglock using their email address and select Serenity Title & Escrow in order to retrieve the wire transfer instructions. Everyone (including real estate agents) can rest assured knowing buyers and lenders are receiving authentic wire transfer instructions from their closing company.
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Through Closinglock’s secure portal, you will have peace of mind knowing your funds will arrive at their intended destination. And better yet, the quick and convenient process takes just moments to complete. ​Closinglock does not require customers to download any apps or programs in order to access the secure portal for their real estate closing.
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Not only does Closinglock offer a secure portal for exchanging wire instructions, but also sends out automatic email/text notifications, has multi-factor authentication and custom branding. In addition, the Closinglock system uses wire fraud warnings and pop-ups to conveniently and consistently educate your customers throughout the entire process.​
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Step 1 -
Using multi-factor authentication, your client will enter their email and unique code they receive to log in.
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Step 2 -
Once logged in, your seller (in this instance) can choose to send wire instructions manually or through Plaid.
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Step 3 -
Through Plaid, your seller logs into their bank account to automatically format and send their wire instructions.
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