Hackers Swipe Legal Closing Funds

By intercepting emails between lawyers and their clients, hackers are stealing closing funds. The scheme has worked in at least 91 cases, and on average it nets the hackers $112,000 pounds per incident. These hackers have experience using “spear fishing”—mimicking the email addresses of buyers, sellers, counsel and real estate companies—to get at the information and the funds. Worker error is at the heart of this dilemma. Jessica Edgerton, a lawyer with the National Association of Realtors, said the basic precautions include simply warning clients of potential fraud at the outset of the transaction.