GET TO KNOW OUR AGENT OF THE MONTH, BRITTANY BENNETT

Brittany epitomizes integrity, energy, hard work and creative service in every detail of your real estate transaction.  Brittany grew up in Gainesville and her hard work ethic came from watching her parents operate the Red Shoe House.  She has watched them build relationships throughout the years with their customers and understands how important it is to maintain her reputation in her business.  She has worked with buyers, sellers and investor for the last 5 years and most her business comes from referrals.

Wire Transfer Scheme Targets Mortgage Payoffs, Secret Service Warns

The U.S. Secret Service issued an advisory warning of a drastic increase in wire transfer fraud related to real estate transactions and mortgages.

According to the alert, cybercriminals impersonate lenders with the intent to elicit payment of mortgage payoffs. The Secret Service said the criminals send fictitious or altered mortgage payoff statements to title companies.

The Secret Service provided the following tips to help prevent the fraud:

• Update policies and procedures to ensure proper verification of information before releasing funds.
• Independently obtain mortgage payoff statements and confirm with verified and trusted sources.
• Independently verify the authenticity of information included in correspondence and statement.
• Do not rely on third parties, such as mortgagors or other transaction participant, for information.
• Restrict wire transfers to known and previously verified accounts.
• Pay using checks when the information cannot be independently verified.