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Wire Fraud

Family Owned and Operated Title Company Provides Smooth, Successful Closings

"There's a war between those in this business and cyber hackers," reveals Brittany Malcolm, Affinity Land Services vice president of marketing and sales, regarding attempts and successes against consumers to be conned out of money. Professionals at Affinity offer tips to avoid these types of traps. 

Since 2012, Affinity Land Services has been a local title company operated by members of the Malcolm family. President/CEO/Title Agent Nicole Malcolm has been in the title business since 2008. A decade ago, she started this company and runs it alongside her children:  Tom, Rachel and Brittany. They employ 15 employees in their Newtown office at 9 S. Sycamore St.

Brittany says the increase in electronic communications is the one element that's changed most since they began the company. "Electronic processing of transactions increased the speed and efficiency of the process, which is positive. However, it also opens up the door for higher risk of fraudulent communication and possible scams," she adds. 

Like so many other industries, COVID-19 has impacted real estate. Brittany reports that in a single week, she might do more titles for refinances than she had in months before the pandemic. "The overwhelming transactions were for people getting cash out of their homes. This cash was sometimes used to renovate, but more often used to pay off debt or purchase other property," she says.

In addition to the COVID effect, an increase in property values has spiked the market with homeowners selling properties and purchasing more. Refinances are always up, says Brittany, when the market rates are low; but the increase in home values is creating a deluge of transactions that hasn’t been seen in recent years. 

This increase in volume and the increase in electronic communication potentially can put consumers, title companies, realtors, lenders and lawyers at risk for fraud. Brittany says phishing emails are sometimes sent to consumers as if they are any one of the businesses involved in a refinance or home purchase transaction. "These communications will ask the consumer to wire money in an email that looks very similar to the actual company working with that consumer. A simple change in the spelling of a name of an employee or a small difference in the email address is all that a consumer can detect to identify the email as phishing," she explains. 

Nicole says that hackers watch email transactions for weeks. "Once they obtain all the pertinent information about closings, many times, they succeed in getting buyers to wire funds to fake accounts representing the proposed title company. It's horrible what's happening and the best way of defense is to educate all parties to the transaction."

Besides looking for small details that easily could be missed, Brittany says it is always best to do the following:

  1. Ask and understand the entire process from start to finish, so if there is an ask for money, it would be expected.

  2. Call to confirm before any money is moved. Affinity Land Services, for example, will never ask for a wire of money without having spoken to the consumer first. The email is simply a confirmation of what was discussed over the phone. 

  3. If it seems odd, or unexpected, don’t do it. Always error on the side of caution. The realtor, lawyer, mortgage broker or title agent, is not going to be upset if they need to confirm an ask.

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