November 2, 2017
The number of wire fraud scams reported by title companies to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) spiked 480 percent in 2016, according to a warning issued to businesses by the FBI. If funds are transferred to a fraudulent account, it is important to act quickly:
- Contact the financial institution immediately upon discovering the fraudulent transfer.
- Request that the financial institution contact the corresponding financial institution where the fraudulent transfer was sent..
- Contact your local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office if the wire is recent. The FBI, working with the United States Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, might be able to help return or freeze the funds.
File a complaint, regardless of dollar loss, with www.ic3.gov or, for BEC/EAC victims, bec.ic3.gov
