Viking Abstract will never send you new or changed wire instructions by email. Before transferring any funds, call our office at 1-844-7VIKING (1-844-784-5464) using a number you already have — never a number contained in an email — and verify the instructions with a person you have spoken with before.
How the fraud works
Someone gains access to an email account on the transaction — yours, your agent's, your attorney's, anyone's. They watch quietly. They learn the closing date, the names, the amounts and the way everyone writes. Then, a day or two before closing, an email arrives that looks exactly like the one you were expecting, with wire instructions that are almost right. The account number is theirs.
Once the wire is sent, recovery is difficult and often impossible. The funds are moved within hours.
The step that stops it
Call and verify — using a number you already have
Not a number in the email. Not a number in the attachment. A number from the business card, the engagement letter, or a website you navigated to yourself. Speak with a person you have spoken with before, read the account number aloud, and have them confirm it. That single call defeats the entire scheme, and it costs two minutes.
Warning signs
What Viking Abstract will and will not do
| We will | We will never |
|---|---|
| Give you wire instructions through a verified channel and confirm them by phone | Email you new or changed wire instructions |
| Ask you to call us on a number you already have before sending funds | Ask you to keep instructions confidential from your attorney |
| Call back to verify any outgoing wire we send | Pressure you to send funds urgently without verification |
| Answer the phone when you call to check | Object to you verifying — we want you to |
If you think you have already sent a wire in error
- Call your bank immediately and request a wire recall.
- Call us at 1-844-7VIKING (1-844-784-5464) and your attorney.
- File a complaint at IC3.gov and ask them to initiate the Financial Fraud Kill Chain.
- Contact your local FBI field office.
Speed is the only advantage you have. Recovery odds drop sharply after the first 24 to 72 hours.
Share this with your clients
The Wire Fraud Prevention Checklist in our forms library is written to be forwarded to a buyer or seller without editing.
Get the checklist