Close with confidence.
Wire fraud is the most expensive thing that can go wrong at a real estate closing, and it almost always starts with an email. Here is exactly what we do about it — and what we will never do.
Our wiring instructions do not change mid-transaction. If you receive an email appearing to come from our office with updated account numbers, different routing information, or urgent instructions to wire immediately — it is fraudulent. Stop. Call (856) 228-1220 using the number on this page and speak to a person you know before sending anything.
What we do on every single file
- Verbal verification, outbound only. Before any wire leaves our escrow account, we call the recipient on a number we independently hold on file — never a number pulled from an email signature or a document sent to us.
- Payee and account validation. The name on the account is matched against the payee on the settlement statement before funding. A mismatch stops the wire, every time.
- Encrypted document delivery. Settlement statements, payoff letters and anything containing account or Social Security numbers travel through a secure portal, not plain email attachments.
- Reconciled escrow accounting. Daily three-way reconciliation of the escrow account, with segregated client funds and documented authorization controls.
- ALTA Best Practices framework. Written procedures covering escrow controls, information security, licensing, settlement processes and consumer complaint handling.
- Buyer education at contract, not at closing. Every buyer receives a plain-language warning sheet the day their file opens — while there is still time for it to matter.
What you should do
Before you wire a single dollar
Call our office at (856) 228-1220 using a number you looked up independently — from this website, your contract, or a previous statement. Do not use a number from the email containing the instructions. Ask to verbally confirm the account and routing numbers digit by digit with a person you have already spoken to on the file.
Red flags in an email
A sudden change in wiring instructions. Urgency or secrecy. A slightly misspelled domain name — one character off from ours. A reply-to address that differs from the sender. Requests to keep the change between you and the sender. Instructions arriving late Friday afternoon, which is when this fraud is most often attempted.
If you think you have already sent funds to a fraudster
Act within hours, not days. Call your bank immediately and request a wire recall. Call our office. File a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Contact your local FBI field office. Funds are sometimes recoverable in the first 24 to 72 hours, and almost never after that.
Why title companies are targeted
Real estate closings involve large, one-time, time-pressured transfers between parties who often have not met in person, coordinated largely over email. Criminals monitor compromised email accounts — frequently an agent’s or a buyer’s, not the title company’s — wait for a closing date, then insert themselves at the moment funds are about to move.
Questions about a wire on your file?
Call the office directly. We would rather spend ten minutes confirming instructions with you than spend six months trying to recover funds.
Or call (856) 228-1220 — Mon–Thur 9–5, Fri 9–4, Sat Sun Closed.