Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Market-Reporter
  • Home
  • Markets
    • U.S. Markets
    • Canada
    • Europe & Middle East
    • Emerging Markets
    • Asia
    • Latin America
  • Investing
    • Stocks
    • IPOs
    • Mutual Funds
    • ETFs
    • Bonds
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Cryptocurrencies
  • Economy & Politics
    • Personal Finance
    • Spending & Saving
    • Retirement
    • Real Estate
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Markets
    • U.S. Markets
    • Canada
    • Europe & Middle East
    • Emerging Markets
    • Asia
    • Latin America
  • Investing
    • Stocks
    • IPOs
    • Mutual Funds
    • ETFs
    • Bonds
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Cryptocurrencies
  • Economy & Politics
    • Personal Finance
    • Spending & Saving
    • Retirement
    • Real Estate
No Result
View All Result
Market-Reporter
No Result
View All Result
Home Real Estate

Local Mother Loses Life Savings in Real Estate Scam – NBC 6 South Florida

MtR by MtR
June 24, 2021
in Real Estate
0


A South Florida single mother spent her life savings to put down a deposit for a condo. But the money ended up in the wrong hands. 

“I said it’s over. I lost my money,” Patricia Verlino told NBC 6. “Somebody did this to me and I am not going to recover.”

Patricia was just starting to settle into her new condo in Davie with her two teenage daughters. Now, she has to move out by Friday.  

The $63,000 down payment to close was sent from her bank in a wire transfer. Patricia told NBC 6 she worked years to save the deposit.  

“A lot of sacrifice,” Patricia said. “A lot of times without the girls because I get out of one job and go to another one. I work on the weekends. Also, I don’t go on vacation with the girls.”

Patricia shared with NBC 6 documents showing she closed on the home with the title company earlier this month. But she said, as she was unpacking, she got a call from her realtor. 

“She said ‘call your bank because the title company is still not receiving the wire,’” Patricia told us.  

The bank’s records show the down payment money was wired. So Patricia shared the wire instructions she received with her realtor and the title company. 

“When I forwarded that email to the title company, somebody from the title company said ‘this is not our account,’ and that’s like when I was like ‘Oh my God, this is a problem.’”

Kevin Tacher, who runs Independence Title in Broward, didn’t have anything to do with the transaction but works hard to make sure others know about this scam.

“It’s the number one largest real estate scam in the country right now — wire fraud,” Tacher said, adding “It’s the saddest thing to see someone lose their life savings.”

Patricia showed us the emails she received with what she thought were the wire instructions.

The email had her title company’s name and information, and the sender appeared to be a company employee. It’s a woman whose name is also listed in her closing documents.

“The email was hacked,” Teacher said. “These hackers – what they do – is they monitor the email until they see a business transaction going down. Then, they pose themselves which is called spoofing — they spoof themselves to be the title agent asking her to wire them money.”

The company later confirmed the employee’s name was misspelled and she was not working there at the time the fraudulent email was sent.

In an email, Patricia’s realtor told us she gave her the correct wire instructions at the beginning of the process when she signed the contract, adding “When it was near to the closing date, I asked her (Patricia) if she had the wire instructions, she said yes.” She also said she didn’t know the employee listed in the email was no longer working for the title company.   

Patricia said she contacted law enforcement, including the Davie Police Department, to see if detectives could find out who took her money. A department’s spokesperson confirmed they are currently investigating the case. 

Her title company, Brokers Title and Escrow, told NBC their “email was not compromised and that domain is not from anyone associated to the company.” 

They declined an on camera interview but wrote in an email, “I completely understand that she is horrified of losing her life savings, we totally sympathize with her. We are on her side and have made ourselves available to fully cooperate with everyone handling this investigation.”

They went on to say they haven’t placed a claim with their insurance because they have not been determined to be responsible for this incident.

“I don’t sleep,” Patricia told NBC 6, while fighting back tears.

She has to move out of the property Friday with her daughters. 

“I just said maybe we need to start all over but I am going to give you (to her daughters) whatever happens after this … I am going to give you a nice place again,” Patricia said. 

Tacher said there are things you can do to prevent this from happening. 

First, he said you should stay in close contact with the title company and confirm items with a phone call. It’s also important to only respond to communications that require authentication with security codes.   

Teacher said title companies should warn buyers not to send funds electronically without these confirmations. Patricia’s title company told us they always do that.



Source link

Related articles

Tightening foreign loans flowing into securities and real estate in Vietnam

July 6, 2022

AZ Big Media Real Estate Pulse: What you need to know about monsoons and new laws

July 6, 2022

Related Posts

Tightening foreign loans flowing into securities and real estate in Vietnam

by MtR
July 6, 2022
0

In the context of strict management of foreign loans, the State Bank of Vietnam wants to limit businesses’ short-term borrowing...

AZ Big Media Real Estate Pulse: What you need to know about monsoons and new laws

by MtR
July 6, 2022
0

In this episode of “Real Estate Pulse with MacQueen & Gottlieb,” Patrick MacQueen and Ben Gottlieb talk about how the...

Gurugram Based Real Estate Development Organization Whiteland Corporation appoints Rishi Piplani as Chief Officer Human Resource and Technology

by MtR
July 6, 2022
0

ANI | Updated: Jul 06, 2022 16:04 IST Gurugram (Haryana) , July 6 (ANI/NewsVoir): Gurugram-based Real Estate Development Organization Whiteland...

Real estate: Navigating the storm

by MtR
July 6, 2022
0

    Recap on the economic plight of the island nation and the...

Stone Real Estate adds new franchise location with Hawkesbury office

by MtR
July 6, 2022
0

Experienced agent Adam Buchert has rebranded his agency to tap into the opportunities, knowledge and expertise of the Stone network....

Load More
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Bank of England tells ministers to intervene on digital currency ‘programming’

June 21, 2021

Tips for checking smoke alarms during daylight saving time

March 12, 2022

GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. stocks follow Europe up; Treasury yields rise, dollar firm

July 9, 2021
Fed tapering and emerging markets

Fed tapering and emerging markets

June 7, 2021
African currencies week ahead: Zambia's kwacha seen on back foot, Kenyan shilling up – Business Recorder

African currencies week ahead: Zambia's kwacha seen on back foot, Kenyan shilling up – Business Recorder

0
Maxum Foods releases Global Dairy Commodity Update for June

Maxum Foods releases Global Dairy Commodity Update for June

0
Letter: Perpetual bonds can help states fight hunger

Letter: Perpetual bonds can help states fight hunger

0
United Kingdom ETFs Are Riding the Re-Opening Momentum

United Kingdom ETFs Are Riding the Re-Opening Momentum

0

Vanguard to pay millions to mutual fund investors hit with big tax bills

July 6, 2022

Health Care Sector ETFs Are at the Mercy of Expiring Government Subsidies

July 6, 2022

Research: Rating Action: Moody’s assigns Aaa to Essex County, NJ’s GOULT bonds; outlook stable

July 6, 2022

Metal companies feel the heat as commodity prices continue to dip

July 6, 2022

Recent News

Vanguard to pay millions to mutual fund investors hit with big tax bills

July 6, 2022

Health Care Sector ETFs Are at the Mercy of Expiring Government Subsidies

July 6, 2022

Research: Rating Action: Moody’s assigns Aaa to Essex County, NJ’s GOULT bonds; outlook stable

July 6, 2022

Categories

  • Asia
  • Bonds
  • Canada
  • Commodities
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Currencies
  • Emerging Markets
  • ETFs
  • Europe & Middle East
  • IPOs
  • Latin America
  • Mutual Funds
  • Personal Finance
  • Real Estate
  • Retirement
  • Spending & Saving
  • Stocks
  • U.S. Markets
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with us

© 2021 Copyright Market-Reporter

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Markets
    • U.S. Markets
    • Canada
    • Europe & Middle East
    • Emerging Markets
    • Asia
    • Latin America
  • Investing
    • Stocks
    • IPOs
    • Mutual Funds
    • ETFs
    • Bonds
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Cryptocurrencies
  • Economy & Politics
    • Personal Finance
    • Spending & Saving
    • Retirement
    • Real Estate

© 2021 Copyright Market-Reporter