Wire fraud in La Jolla: check closing money before you send it

What wire fraud means

On this site, wire fraud in a home sale means a scam that sends closing money to the wrong account. It usually starts with a hacked or fake email. This page also covers the checks consumer agencies tell buyers and sellers to use.

• How BEC (business email compromise, when a criminal takes over or fakes a work email) shows up in a home sale
• Checks from the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), the DRE (California Department of Real Estate), CISA (the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the FBI’s IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center)
• What they say to do if wire details suddenly change
• What to do if you think something is wrong (call your bank, then report to IC3)
• How this fits with escrow & closing, buying & selling, guides and La Jolla

These agency warnings are the main sources. They do not replace advice on your sale.

How email scams show up in a home sale

IC3 says BEC scams can target buyers, sellers, lawyers, title companies and agents. Once a criminal can read the emails about a sale, they often ask to change how you pay. Or they ask you to send money to a different bank account.

The DRE puts it simply. Criminals hack into the email of real estate agents or escrow officers. Then they pretend to be them and trick buyers into sending money to the wrong account. Older DRE alerts describe the same trick: real-looking wire or electronic transfer instructions that send money to the criminal.

CISA adds more detail. After they get in, criminals may read real emails first. Then they send wire instructions from the hacked account, or from a look-alike address that is easy to miss.

Check every wire with escrow before money moves.

Check wire instructions before money moves

Consumer agencies agree on these habits:

• Save trusted numbers early. The CFPB tells buyers to write down phone numbers for their agent and closing contacts before closing. The DRE says the same: get the numbers at the start and keep using them.
• Call to check payment instructions. The DRE’s 2025 tips say to always check payment instructions with a phone call to the escrow officer or agent, especially for wires. CISA says to call a number you already know, not one from the message that asked for the change.
• Be careful with last-minute email changes. The CFPB warns that scammers often email a few days before closing with new wire or payment instructions. The DRE says not to act on an emailed change to wire or electronic transfer instructions until you call the known number.
• Don’t trust the number or link in the email. The CFPB and CISA both say to skip phone numbers and links inside a suspicious message. Look up the contact another way.
• Don’t email bank details. The DRE and CFPB both warn against sending bank account details by regular email or text.
• Turn on two-step login. The DRE’s 2025 tips include MFA (multi-factor authentication, a second check such as a code sent to your phone) on the email you use for the sale.
• Look closely at the sender’s address. The DRE warns about odd addresses and small spelling changes that look real at first.

Before any wire for a La Jolla closing, I want the buyer or seller on a live call with the escrow officer, at a number we already trust. Not a number that came in the same email as new instructions.

If wire details suddenly change

An email or surprise call may ask you to send closing money to a new account, change banks or switch from a check to a wire at the last minute. If so:

• Stop. Do not send money based on that message alone.
• Call the escrow officer or agent at the known number from the start of the sale
• Find out if the change is real before money moves
• When someone claims a change, check in person or by a method escrow set up at the start

DRE alerts also say that in some sales, paying in person with a cashier’s check (and getting a receipt) can replace acting on an emailed wire change. Ask your escrow company what it will accept.

Not every change is fraud. And a checked wire still carries some risk. These are simply the steps consumer agencies publish.

If you think something is wrong

The CFPB and DRE both say speed matters:

• Call your bank or wire company right away and ask them to stop or pull back the transfer
• File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov
• Tell your escrow officer, agent and lawyer so they can protect the rest of the sale

Check the next steps with escrow and your lawyer. No checklist can promise a closing.

How this fits with other guides

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