Real Estate Wire Fraud via Phone Calls
How fraudsters telephone real estate transaction parties to provide false wire instructions verbally, exploiting the trust placed in a familiar-sounding professional.
Part of: Real Estate Wire Fraud
Last reviewed: 9 June 2026
While most real estate wire fraud guidance focuses on email-based business email compromise, a significant and underappreciated variant occurs through phone calls. A fraudster who has obtained enough information about a pending transaction — through a compromised email account, public records, or a data purchase — can call one of the parties and verbally provide fraudulent wire instructions that the recipient believes come from a trusted professional.
This variant is more difficult to detect than email fraud because a person on the phone sounds more authoritative and human than a spoofed email address. The recipient may be alert to checking email domains but less likely to question a caller who provides the correct address, closing date, and parties' names — details that signal genuine insider knowledge of the transaction.
This guide covers how phone-based wire instruction fraud works, what questions can expose a fraudulent caller, and the single most important protective step for any real estate closing.
How this scam works on phone calls
The caller contacts a buyer, their attorney, or the buyer's agent a day or two before closing, presenting as the title company representative, closing attorney, or escrow officer. They reference the correct property address, closing date, and the names of other parties involved — details obtained from compromised email accounts or public title search records.
The caller states that the wire instructions have changed due to a banking issue, an account update, or a compliance requirement, and provides new routing and account numbers. The urgency of a pending closing and the caller's apparent knowledge of the transaction details inhibit the recipient's inclination to question the change.
Funds wired to the fraudulent account are typically moved multiple times within hours. By the time the legitimate closing party contacts the buyer about missing funds, the money is often unrecoverable through normal banking processes.
Common red flags
- Any phone call providing updated or changed wire instructions, regardless of how knowledgeable the caller sounds
- Caller is unable to provide their direct email and direct line number that matches the title company's publicly listed information
- Instruction change is presented with urgency — funds must be sent today or closing will be delayed
- The caller's callback number is different from the title company's known main number
- Caller cannot be reached at the title company's main number when you call back independently
How to protect yourself
- Establish a rule at the start of every transaction: wire instructions will only be confirmed by calling the title company's independently-sourced main number, never a number provided by a caller
- Treat any wire instruction change — regardless of channel — as requiring in-person or independently-sourced phone confirmation before acting
- Discuss this protocol explicitly with your real estate agent, attorney, and title company at the outset
- If you have already wired funds to what may be a fraudulent account, call your bank immediately — a recall attempt within the same business day has the best chance of success
- Set up a verbal confirmation code with your title company to use on closing-day wire calls
How to report it
- Call your bank immediately to attempt a wire recall — time is critical
- File a report with the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
- File a police report for the estate records
Frequently asked questions
How did a fraudulent caller know the details of my real estate transaction?
Details of pending real estate transactions are obtainable through compromised email accounts, public title search records, and data purchased from lead-generation services that monitor mortgage applications. Knowing your transaction details does not mean the caller is a legitimate party.
Is calling a number the caller gives me safe for verification?
No. The callback number provided by a fraudulent caller may connect to a co-conspirator who confirms the false instructions. Always call the title company's main number that you obtained independently — from their official website or your original contract paperwork.