By Lisa A. Tyler
National Escrow Administrator

It is easy to tell which of our associates is reading Fraud Insights. How do we know? It is easy; it is those settlement agents that stop a repeat crime we have reported on over and over again. For instance, we reported a scam in the July 2014 edition "BOAT for sale" that was perpetrated on three different settlement agents. Then we published a story "RECOGNIZE the signs" about the scam again in the November 2014 edition. And this month, we can report one super settlement agent recognized the signs and stopped the crime. Read about it in the story entitled "1.3 miles down the road."

Debbie Donaldson, Branch Manager and Sr. Escrow Officer with Chicago Title Company in Kingman, Arizona, did everything right — thank goodness. If not, she would have wired over $27,000 to a cyber thief in Poland. This article is similar to the reports the National Escrow Administration receives on a weekly basis. This is a classic example of the type of cyber crime infiltrating the title industry. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the particulars by reading "DO everything right…" so you can be a hero too!

Happy New Year! This year we intend to publish a few fun facts in every edition about the upcoming changes brought on by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the new consumer financial law. In this edition read "CHANGE is good…repeat" to learn when the new disclosures and rules will take effect.

Answer the monthly CFPB question to ensure you understand the new rules!