Real Estate & Title Real, reported

Look what happened to this home buyer's closing, so it doesn't happen to yours

By FraudMeNot Team

Label: Real, reported. "Based on a real, reported case. Details dramatized. Source: https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf" (FBI anonymized the victims; scenes marked "illustrative" are dramatized.)

The story

In March 2025, a senior citizen in Missouri was getting ready to close on a property. An email arrived that appeared to come from the title company, with wire instructions for more than $1.3 million. The account was fraudulent. (Source 1)

The victim reported it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The FBI's Recovery Asset Team started its Financial Fraud Kill Chain with banking partners, and the receiving account was frozen. Investigators then found that the account had also received wires from other victims. The account's owner had been pulled into an overpayment scam and told to send $1 million on to an account in Hong Kong, so the FBI escalated internationally. (Source 1)

A month later, an Oregon city government office reported a business email compromise loss of more than $6 million. The FBI matched the receiving bank account to the frozen one from the Missouri case and alerted the banks. (Source 1)

Illustrative: picture the buyer at the kitchen table. The email has the right file number and a friendly sign-off. Nothing looks wrong. That's why it works.

Why it matters

• Real estate fraud, 2025: 12,368 complaints and $275,110,419 in reported losses. (Source 1, FBI IC3 2025 report)
• Business email compromise, 2025: 24,768 complaints and $3,046,598,558 in reported losses. (Source 1)

The moment it could have been stopped

The wire instruction email. Speed mattered too: a fast report gave the FBI time to freeze the money.

Tips (general)

1. Tell every buyer and seller at the start, in writing and out loud: "We will never change wire instructions by email."
2. Before any wire goes out, verify by phone using a number you already have on file, not one from the email.
3. Watch for urgency, last-minute changes, and lookalike sender domains.
4. If money goes out wrong, call the sending bank immediately to ask for a recall, then file at IC3 (ic3.gov).

Find your state: see where to report a scam in your state.

Sources

1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report (Missouri / Oregon Recovery Asset Team case; crime-type tables). https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf
2. Secondary coverage: HousingWire, "FBI: Real estate fraud losses hit $275M in 2025." https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fbi-cybercrime-losses-real-estate-fraud-hits-275m/

Disclaimer. FraudMeNot content, including the Close Call Report, is general educational and awareness material only. It is not legal, financial, tax, compliance, or cybersecurity advice, and it is not a security service or assessment. Nothing here creates a professional or advisory relationship. Content is provided "as is" without warranties; it may contain errors or become outdated, and no step described can guarantee prevention of fraud or loss. Consult a qualified attorney, accountant, financial professional, or security provider about your specific situation. If you've been scammed, contact your bank immediately and report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov.

Story labels. Stories may be dramatized or composite; see each label. Each story carries one label: Real, reported: nothing added or dramatized (based on public records, linked), Real, reported (based on public sources, linked; details may be dramatized), Composite/dramatized (based on common patterns; names, places and numbers are invented, and any resemblance to real persons or firms is coincidental), or Hypothetical. People named in reported cases who haven't been convicted are presumed innocent; allegations are only allegations.

AI disclosure. Narration is AI-generated (text-to-speech). Scripts are researched and reviewed by a person. Some visuals may be AI-generated or stock.

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