Wire fraud is any scheme that uses electronic communications—email, text, phone, or a banking app—to trick you into sending money or revealing information that lets a criminal take it. The most common versions today are real estate closing scams, business email compromise, and romance scams, and they all share one feature: by the time you realize what happened, the money has usually already moved. The single best defense is a simple habit—verify any payment instruction through a phone number you already trust before you send a dime.
At the federal level, wire fraud is a crime under the federal wire fraud statute (18 U.S.C. § 1343), prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice and investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. Consumer-protection enforcement is handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and when a bank or payment app is involved, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and your state Attorney General may also play a role. This article is general information to help you recognize and avoid these scams, not legal advice for your specific situation.
Real estate and mortgage closing wire fraud
This is one of the most financially devastating scams because the dollar amounts are enormous—often an entire down payment or the full purchase price of a home. Criminals monitor email accounts belonging to title companies, real estate agents, escrow officers, or lenders (sometimes for weeks). When closing day approaches, they send you an email that looks like it came from your closing agent, with new or "updated" wire instructions. You wire your funds to the criminal's account instead of the title company's, and the money is gone.
Red flags to watch for:
- Last-minute changes to wiring instructions, account numbers, or the receiving bank.
- Email addresses that are slightly off—a swapped letter, an extra character, or a different domain that's easy to miss.
- Pressure to act fast or "avoid delaying the closing."
- Instructions that arrive only by email, with no phone confirmation.
How to protect yourself: Always call your title or escrow company to verbally confirm wire instructions before sending money—and use a phone number you obtained independently (from a signed document, the company's official website, or an in-person conversation), never the number in the suspicious email. Confirm the dollar amount and the exact receiving account. After you wire, call again to confirm the funds arrived. Speed matters enormously here: if you catch it within hours, your bank may be able to issue a recall request.
Business email compromise (BEC) and invoice fraud
Business email compromise targets workplaces but increasingly reaches individuals too. A criminal gains access to (or convincingly imitates) the email of an executive, vendor, or trusted contact, then requests an urgent wire transfer, a change to payroll direct-deposit details, or payment of a "new" invoice. The message often plays on authority and urgency—"I'm in a meeting, just handle this quietly," or "our banking details changed, please update the file."
Common BEC variations:
- CEO/executive impersonation—a spoofed message from a boss demanding a fast, confidential transfer.
- Vendor invoice fraud—a real supplier's email is hijacked and a fake "updated payment account" is inserted.
- Payroll diversion—a request to reroute an employee's direct deposit to a new account.
- Gift card requests—a smaller-scale version asking you to buy cards and send the codes.
How to protect yourself: Treat any change to payment details as a verification trigger. Call the requester back on a known number—not by replying to the email. Be suspicious of urgency and secrecy, which are deliberate tactics to stop you from checking. For businesses, require dual approval for wire transfers and a callback policy for any banking-detail change. Watch for look-alike domains and reply-to addresses that don't match the sender.
Romance and "pig butchering" scams
Romance scams begin with an online relationship—on a dating app, social media, or even a "wrong number" text that turns friendly. Over weeks or months the scammer builds trust and affection, then introduces a financial emergency, a travel cost, a customs fee, or, increasingly, a "can't-miss" cryptocurrency investment. The crypto-investment version is sometimes called "pig butchering" because the victim is "fattened up" with attention before being financially slaughtered. Victims are often shown a fake trading dashboard that appears to grow, encouraging them to send more—until they try to withdraw and discover it was all fake.
Warning signs:
- The person professes strong feelings quickly but always has an excuse to avoid video calls or meeting in person.
- Conversation eventually turns to money, crypto, or a "special" investment opportunity they want to help you with.
- You're asked to move communication off the dating app to a private messaging service.
- Requests to send money by wire transfer, crypto, gift cards, or payment apps—methods that are hard to reverse.
How to protect yourself: Never send money or crypto to someone you haven't met in person, no matter how genuine the relationship feels. Be especially wary of unsolicited investment tips from a romantic interest. A legitimate partner will not pressure you to move money fast or keep it secret from friends and family.