Wire fraud protection company CertifID tracked a five times’ increase in mortgage payoff fraud attempts from the first quarter to the second quarter through its PayoffProtect product.
The company predicted the trend to continue, as July’s numbers show similarly elevated levels of payoff fraud attempts, an early indication of potential for major losses in the third quarter.
Real estate wire fraud, a sub-category of business email compromise, has become a major focus of the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center “due to its prevalence in the United States and the effect it can have on the individual victims.”
With PayoffProtect, users can validate the authenticity of wire instructions to help ensure payments are secure. The product has delivered verification success in 96.5 percent of all transactions processed, according to CertifID.
“PayoffProtect is being adopted across the board because of its ability to mitigate payments risk in the face of growing fraud in real estate,” CertifID CEO Tyler Adams said. “Since its release one year ago, transaction volumes have grown at an impressive clip, but what is truly remarkable is the improved security and efficiency our customers experience over legacy processes. All indications are that fraud will continue to climb, and having products like PayoffProtect will enable companies to bring on stronger measures to protect themselves.”