Fraud Alert for Settlement Companies & Law Firms
ALTA is seeing a rise in a sophisticated fraud scheme targeting settlement companies and law firms, and it's important to share this warning widely.
Here's how the scheme works:
* Fraudsters impersonate a bank's fraud department and contact a company by phone, claiming there is suspicious activity on escrow or operating accounts.
* They then ask the company to "confirm" login credentials or MFA codes. Once that information is provided, fraudulent wires are initiated immediately.
What makes this scheme especially dangerous:
* Caller ID is often spoofed to appear as the bank's real number
* Calls may be preceded by fake fraud alert text messages
* Fraudsters may already have partial account details, employee names or SSN fragments
* There appears to be a trend of targeting companies using smaller or local financial institutions, though no bank is immune
Critical reminder:
* No legitimate bank will ever ask for your login credentials or MFA tokens.
* If you receive a call claiming to be from your bank-hang up immediately and contact your bank's fraud department using a known, verified phone number.
* If an incident occurs, follow ALTA's Wire Fraud Incident Response Protocol (https://lnkd.in/eg8YSd9c) and notify your underwriter immediately.
Fraud tactics continue to evolve. Awareness, verification and internal training remain the strongest defenses. Please share this message with your teams and colleagues!
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Megan Hernandez CAE | Senior Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy | ALTA
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