The Colorado Division of Real Estate at the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) warns Colorado consumers to beware of a national cyber-scam currently taking place that steals money directly from home buyers and sellers.

The Division continues to receive information about this cyber scam in which cybercriminals hack the email accounts of real estate brokers, title companies, and consumers who are in the process of buying or selling a home. In other instances, they create alternative email accounts with just minor changes to the name of the email account, which typically goes unnoticed by the recipient of the email.  

“Unfortunately the costs to Colorado consumers can be in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars with just one successful scam,” stated Marcia Waters, Director of the Division of Real Estate. “Unless you pay very close attention, everything may look right — the email signature,address and the website. But, by the time homebuyers realize something is wrong, the money is already gone and in an untraceable bank account, leaving them at the closing table with no money and eliminating their ability to purchase the home.”

This past February, a Colorado seller lost over $80,000 from the sale of their property to one of these scams.

How do the scams work? Often the computer hackers monitor email exchanges between the parties of a real estate transaction and gain specific information, such as the buyer and seller names, subject property address and file numbers.

As the closing date approaches and arrangements are made to wire the money to the closing company, or wire the proceeds from the sale of the house to the sellers, the scammer will send a last-minute email from a hijacked account or similar looking email address updating the wiring instructions to request the money be transferred into a fraudulent bank account. The email looks legitimate and often contains the transaction specific information the hackers obtained in the body of the email or as an attachment.