It’s June! This month isn’t just about warmer weather; it’s also National Homeownership Month, marking one of the busiest times of the year for home purchases.

Yet, it can seem, at times, as though the idea of owning a home has become a seemingly unattainable milestone for some Americans. But not all of it is for the reasons you might think.

Challenging economic factors aside, it doesn’t help that cybercriminals are now targeting the real estate market and prospective home buyers.

Buying a home is a process that, now, can be done digitally -- from start to finish – with the ability to search for homes, tour homes, and then buy a home online. For all of its simplicity, it’s a process that leads to a closing that can still leave some buyers vulnerable, right up to the very moment they’re supposed to get the keys.

Even if some of this is hard to believe, it’s important to protect yourself and your property out of the hands of would-be cyber scammers, who are looking to steal your money. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2023, there were more than 9,500 internet-only real estate complaint cases, amounting to more than $145 million in losses, most of which will never be recovered,

Wire transfer fraud is the most common method that cyber scammers will use to try and defraud you, with real estate closing scams being one of the top five wire fraud schemes. In doing so, hackers will send an email or text message; they might even call you, claiming to be a representative of your title or escrow company and then they’ll ask for money to open your escrow account, tricking you into wiring money straight to the scammer’s bank account.

These bad actors have gotten creative, inventing various ways to steal money from you using a variety of real estate endeavors. They’ll create fake property ads that feature properties at unreasonably low prices, often using stolen pictures and descriptions from legitimate posts to produce listings that look real.

While the thought of being scammed out of a home, and thousands of dollars, is enough to make you forget homeowning altogether- not to fear! There are several steps that you can use to prevent yourself from getting scammed during what’s supposed to be an exciting and celebratory time!

• Don’t click on links or call a phone number sent through email as scammers can hack into email accounts and alter your messages to make it look like the cybercriminal is, actually, your realtor or lending company.
• Create a list of independently confirmed phone numbers for your realtor, lender, and title company, and be sure to use these numbers rather than any numbers that might appear in an unsolicited email.
• Be wary of any communications that intimidates you, or causes you to take any sort of immediate action, as these could be scammers that don’t want you to take any time to think clearly or verify anything.
• If you believe that you have been a victim of a real estate scam, contact your mortgage service provider immediately, and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

By being aware of real estate scams and proactively taking just a few steps to follow some helpful cybersecurity tips, a soon-to-be homeowner can help in better protecting themselves against almost any kind of attack on their assets.

And whether you’re a future homeowner, current homeowner, or you’re involved in real estate – you don’t have to be defenseless against fraud. There’s lots of legitimate real estate agents and cyber-friendly resources to help you fulfill your dream of being a homeowner!