Nattalie Moore, an escrow officer with Security Title Agency in Glendale, Arizona, was closing an all-cash purchase of a home for an 87-year-old buyer. Nearing the closing date, the buyer started receiving emails from someone who appeared to be his real estate agent, instructing him to send funds to close right away. The emails created a sense of urgency and read as follows:

Due to back to back closing, the title company advised you to prepare to have your cash to close wired tomorrow morning as this well expedite the process of recording with the city and have the title work finalized prior to closing and also prevent any funding delays as they can only disburse on fully collected funds. You will be getting the final amount due at closing from your escrow officer along with wire instructions to complete your wire request. Please acknowledge the receipt of this email. 

The next email the buyer received was sent from a spoof email account meant to look like it came from Nattalie; it read as follows: 

Our office is fully booked for the next coming weeks so we advise all buyers closing this month and next month to get their funds in earlier. I will send you your closing statement showing the amount due and the wire instructions to have your funds wired tomorrow morning. 

Finally, the message below came from the same spoof account: 

Please find attached your closing statement showing the final amount due at closing and wiring instructions to complete your wire request this morning. Kindly confirm receipt and send me wire confirmation slip or an email stating wire transfer is done once your transfer is completed for your records and for our file. 

On November 30, 2021, the file was ready to close, but the buyer's funds had still not arrived. Nattalie called the buyer to check the status of his wire transfer of closing funds. He told her he sent the wire the day before, on November 29, 2021. He said he sent the wire after 3:00 pm, so Nattalie did not expect to receive it until sometime the next morning. 

When the closing funds did not show up Nattalie called the buyer again. She asked him to confirm the wire instructions used. That is when he told her he sent $342,838.03 to a bank located in Fargo, North Dakota — but the account listed a different title company. 

In the meantime, Rhonda Gaul, Nattalie's manager, received a call from the president of the title company in Fargo. She indicated she received a wire in the amount of $342,838.03 on November 29, 2021, that originated from Nattalie's buyer. 

Rhonda was puzzled how the wire ended up at another title company. She performed some research to make sure the person she was talking to did indeed work for the title company in Fargo. She then asked the title company president to reject the wire. The title company president called her bank and was told the funds were already credited to her company trust account so the wire could not be rejected. 

When Rhonda hung up the phone, she immediately shared the strange events with Nattalie, and acted swiftly to try to save the buyer's funds. 

Rhonda sent wire instructions to the title company president in Fargo, and then verbally confirmed them with her, so she could send the funds to the Security Title Agency. Luckily, later that day the $342,838.03 was received by Security Title Agency, less a $25 wire transfer fee. 

The buyer, who was buying his forever home in a retirement community in Arizona, cried tears of relief. Everyone involved felt the return of the funds was a miracle. Nattalie completed the closing on time. 

However, the story does not end there. On December 1, 2021, the vice president of the title company in Fargo, unexpectedly called Rhonda regarding the wire transfer and left her a voicemail message. 

Rhonda reached out to Lisa Tyler, the national escrow administrator, and asked her to join in a conference call returning the message. During the conference call, the title company vice president stated the wire transfer in the amount of $342,838.03 was sent in connection with a valid transaction they were handling and should not have been forwarded to Security Title Agency. 

The title company vice president stated the funds came from the buyer's broker in his Fargo transaction — who had the exact same name as the buyer in Nattalie's transaction. What a coincidence! 

The title company vice president also stated his company was handling an escrow for the sale of construction equipment — specifically five (5) 2013 Caterpillar 14m Motor Graders at $380,000 each — for a total purchase price of $1.9 million. He said the $342,838.03 wire transfer represented the initial deposit in the purchase agreement. 

Lisa pointed out title companies do not handle escrow transactions for the transfer of construction equipment, such as graders or excavators, and it appears that his company is the victim of a scam, which has been perpetrated against title companies since 2017. He argued the transaction had been opened by an attorney in Fargo that was, "… a good customer."

Lisa explained that the scam would have unfolded as follows: the fraudsters would have cancelled the transaction and signed mutual instructions to have the $342,838.03 refunded to the buyer named in the purchase agreement (not the depositor), less any escrow fees or charges the title company wanted to deduct. 

When the depositor finally discovered the funds were illegally diverted to the title company's account, they would sue the title company for disbursing their money without their authorization. And by then, the fraudsters would be long gone with the funds. 

The title company vice president called the attorney who told him he, "… thought something was up …," with the buyer and seller. The attorney stated the buyer was not very communicative throughout the transaction that should have closed three months' prior. But once the wire transfer took place, the attorney received twenty-two calls regarding the wire in one day — demanding cancellation and disbursement. 

Luckily, the buyer in Nattalie's transaction sent the wire on November 29, 2021, and not November 30, 2021, when it was expected by the fraudster. That provided both the title company in Fargo, and Nattalie and Rhonda, one day's head start to figure out the scam and prevent it from occurring. 

Had the funds arrived on November 30, 2021, the title company in Fargo would already have signed the cancellation and disbursement instructions to send the funds to the fraudster. A quick internet search confirmed suspicions that the buyer and seller in the purported construction equipment transaction were not real people residing in the United States. 

Nattalie's and Rhonda's quick reactions prevented the 87-year-old buyer from losing his life savings, allowed the transaction to close and prevented the title company in Fargo from a possible loss of $342,838.03. For their efforts, Nattalie and Rhonda will each receive a $750 reward from the Company, as well as letters of recognition.