Liz Hazelbaker featured in article "Wire fraud: This scam could cost home buyers and sellers a lot of money"
Below is an excerpt:
Naples real estate attorney Liz Hazelbaker almost fell victim to wire fraud in February after selling her house in North Naples, but she never reported it to authorities. She and her husband had provided instructions to the title company to pay off a $400,000 loan on the day of the closing, with money from the sale.
Two days before the closing, a scammer — posing as the couple's bank — sent an email to the title company with new wire instructions. As a result, the money went to the wrong bank on the day of the closing.
"The day after closing, I called our bank to make sure they had received the $400,000 and they said no. I called the title company and they sent me the wire confirmation. This is when I realized the money went to a Chase Bank account and not to our bank. We were able to get the money back from Chase— luckily," Hazelbaker said.