Cyber scams have become a widespread issue worldwide with the convenience of smartphones, emails, and text messaging.
John Gable, a man from Central Florida, lost over $15,000 in a business email compromise (BEC) after an attempt to purchase land in Port Charlotte.
According to News 6, Gable wanted to acquire the land to build a small home and was instructed to wire the down payment to the title company via email. Reportedly, the funds never reached the title company.
“I don’t know where to put the blame,” Gable said. “I got confirmation that evening that they received the funds.”
“I’m sick all the time,” he added. “I can’t believe something like this can happen.”
The outlet reported that Gable did not pay close attention to the email
address that provided the wiring instructions, causing him to overlook the subtle dissimilarity.The wiring instructions were reportedly sent from a hotmail.com email account, which is not the title company’s email provider. The fraudulent recipient attached the convincing emails between Gable, the title company, and the real estate agent in the message strand.
Caroline O’Brien-Buster, a special agent in charge of the Orlando Secret Service
office, has witnessed consumers and title company staff get trapped in these cyber schemes, which have reportedly expanded to industrial levels across Florida.“You’re the only one who can ensure that the money is going where it is supposed to be going,” O’Brien-Buster said. “(The imposters) sit and wait. Their only job is to sit and wait for these transactions.”
The agent said her department tracks business email compromises daily.
“A lot of times it happens, and they don’t even know that it happens,” O’Brien-Buster said. “I’d be going down there to make sure the (financial) wires got to where it needed to go.”
To avoid becoming a victim of such schemes, O’Brien-Buster shared that anyone attempting real estate transactions needs to ensure they are conversing and exchanging with legitimate professionals.