Prepare Your Brokerage and
Evaluate Closing Partners
Brokers should establish written procedures for preventing and responding to fraud, train agents and staff on those procedures, and explain fraud risks and money-transfer procedures to clients early in the transaction.
Clients should know that a familiar voice, caller ID, email address, or text message is not proof of identity. Before acting on any communication involving money, account information, identity, or changes to transaction instructions, they should stop and independently verify the request through a trusted contact method.
Before recommending or working with a title company, escrow company, settlement provider, or closing attorney, consider asking:
- What technology and procedures do you use to prevent fraud?
- How do you verify identities, authority to act, bank-account information, and payment instructions?
- How do you…
CLICK HERE to read the FULL Protecting Your Clients and Your Business From Fraud article.
This type of fraud targets the supply chain and accounts payable departments of businesses.
- Invoice Manipulation: Criminals intercept a legitimate invoice between a supplier and a client and change the banking details to their own. The client pays the bill thinking they are paying their trusted vendor.
- Kickbacks and Bribery: A vendor secretly pays an employee of the purchasing company to ensure their bid is successful or to overlook inflated pricing.