Did you have any idea that during fiscal year 2017, nearly one billion ($1BN) dollars of real estate transaction funds were either diverted or attempted to be diverted to the “bad guys”? Based on FBI data as reported by the Washington Post, $969 million was either actually diverted or attempted to be diverted from real estate purchase transactions to “criminally controlled” accounts. “Real estate professionals need to remember that they, too - not just their clients - are in the crosshairs of online criminals.”

In the March/April NAR.Realtor/Magazine issue, Mary Ellen Seale, a federal government IT veteran is quoted as saying. She serves as CEO of the National Cybersecurity Society of which is based in Washington.

Ms Seale goes on to say that these cyberattacks are continuing to grow and are the fifth most common form of malware according to Verizon. We encourage you to learn more about this ever increasing and real threat by visiting the following links at the Identity Theft Center and FBI Cyber Security Intelligence.

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/2016databreaches.html

https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/fbis-cybercrime-report-2017-2575.html