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On September 9, 2015 Christy Kutka, an Escrow Officer with Chicago Title's Fresno, California office, opened a purchase transaction with an $110,000 sale price. Christy processed the order and was proceeding to a successful close when on October 21, 2015 she received the following email message, purportedly from the seller:
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Good morning Christy, a very good morning to you,i would like to inform you that i would prefer a wire transfer to a check,how possible is this and at what cost,hope am not too early,and hope you having a wonderful morning already.Please let me know if i can send you the banking details already.
Have a pleasant one.
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Christy was suspicious the email was from a fraudster, because she had not corresponded with the seller via email throughout the transaction. She cautiously responded, requesting the wire instructions. The next day she received the wire instructions and then immediately thereafter, four more emails demanding confirmation the wire had been sent. The message below is one of the four Christy received:
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Christy, your silence is not appreciated, i expect that a disbursement update should be in order,do respond.
Thanks
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Christy knew the emails had to be from some criminal attempting to divert a wire transfer of the seller's proceeds, which exceeded $102,000. She called the seller to ask if he had requested a wire transfer. The seller insisted on picking up a check and did not send any emails requesting a wire transfer.
Next Christy reported the incident to her manager and the National Escrow Administration team. For her efforts in thwarting the crime, the Company has rewarded Christy $1,500 and a letter of recognition from the Company.
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MORAL OF THE STORY
By paying attention to details and not feeling compelled to comply with an unconfirmed email message, Christy prevented this fraud from occurring. Sharing the information with the proper teams is necessary and helpful in preventing frauds of this type from occurring. Remember to always verify from a known good phone number any modifications to wiring instructions or payment disbursement methods that have been previously established.
Send a copy of any suspect email message to the FNF Computer Information Security Response Team (CIRT) in addition to contacting your manager and Escrow Administration. Emails should be sent to FNF-CIRT@FNF.com for review and investigation as a standard requirement.
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