Wire Fraud When Buying a House in Washington: How to Protect Your Closing Funds (2026)

Short answer: Wire fraud in a home purchase usually starts with an email that looks like it’s from your agent, escrow officer or attorney, with new instructions for sending your down payment or closing funds. Never use wiring instructions that arrive only by email. Before you send money, call your escrow officer at a number you already have and confirm the account by voice. If money goes to the wrong place, call your bank to request a recall right away and file a complaint at ic3.gov.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your bank, your escrow officer and, if money is lost, law enforcement and a Washington attorney are the right people to call about a specific transaction.

How the scheme works

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s archived guidance on mortgage closing scams describes the pattern. Scammers try to break into the email of real estate professionals, watch the messages, and spot upcoming closings. Then they send spoofed emails to buyers, posing as the agent, settlement agent or attorney, with false instructions for wiring closing funds. Those messages can closely copy the email address, phone number and format of the real ones.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) gives one example in its 2025 annual report. In August 2025, buyers who were closing on a home got an email impersonating their attorneys and sent a wire of more than $449,000. After they reported it to their bank and filed with IC3, the Recovery Asset Team asked the receiving bank to freeze the account. The bank said the full amount was still there and on hold.

What the 2025 numbers show

‍

Data from: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (crime type tables).

Closer to home, IC3’s state tables put Washington 11th in 2025 both by complaints (25,619) and by reported losses ($458,165,375). Those figures cover every internet crime type, not just real estate.

Two cautions about these numbers. First, IC3’s "Real Estate" category is defined as loss from a real estate investment or fraud involving rental or timeshare property, so it doesn’t isolate closing wire fraud. Closing-funds diversion often fits under BEC, which IC3 describes as compromising email and other communication to make unauthorized transfers, and the August 2025 example above was labeled a "BEC/Real Estate" incident. Second, these are complaints people chose to file, not a count of every case.

Before you send any money

The CFPB’s archived steps still hold up, and they’re simple:

• Pick two trusted contacts early. Before closing, talk in person or by phone with people such as your agent and settlement agent about how the money will be sent. Write down their names and phone numbers. You can also agree on a code phrase.
• Never follow instructions contained in an email. Confirm the account name and number in person or at the phone number you agreed on ahead of time.
• Don’t use phone numbers or links from the email. Don’t click links or open attachments until you’ve confirmed with your contacts.
• Don’t email financial information. The CFPB says email is never a secure way to send it.
• Be careful on the phone too. Scammers may call and ask you to verify personal or financial details. When in doubt, call your known contacts back.

The same habits apply to your earnest money deposit, which is often the first money you send, and to the final funds for the closing process. If you’re also selling, use the same checks for any instructions about your sale proceeds; our article on a mortgage payoff covers how those funds move at closing.

‍

Based on: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "Mortgage closing scams: how to protect yourself and your closing funds" (archived blog post), and FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report.

Who should be holding your money

In Washington, anyone in the business of performing escrows needs a license from the Department of Financial Institutions under RCW 18.44.021. The law exempts some groups, including banks, credit unions and insurance companies; Washington lawyers whose escrow work is done in their law practice through a trust account; real estate brokers who get no pay for escrow services; and title insurance companies and agents licensed by the Insurance Commissioner. RCW 18.44.011 describes escrow as a third party holding money or documents until set conditions are met, then delivering them according to written instructions.

The DFI escrow page has a tool to verify a Washington escrow agent’s license and a way to file a complaint. Checking the license won’t stop a spoofed email, but it confirms that the company named in your purchase agreement is real. Get that company’s phone number from a document you got early in the process or from its own website, typed in yourself, then use that number to confirm instructions. Our guide to the preliminary title commitment explains the title company’s role.

If it happens, act within minutes

1. Ask your bank for a wire recall. Call your bank or wire-transfer company right away. IC3 says time is of the essence; ask for a recall of the funds and any indemnification documents the bank needs.
2. File a complaint with IC3 at ic3.gov, regardless of the amount, with full transaction details. IC3 may help banks and law enforcement freeze funds.
3. Tell your escrow officer and agent, using phone numbers you already know, so they can take their own steps with the transaction.
4. Get legal advice. Questions about who bears the loss and what happens to the purchase are legal ones for a Washington attorney.

IC3’s Recovery Asset Team works with banks through what it calls the Financial Fraud Kill Chain. In 2025 it handled 3,900 incidents with $1,163,919,846 in attempted theft and froze $679,013,183, about 58% of it. IC3 also notes that banks have different policies, so it’s worth knowing ahead of time what help your bank will give when you try to recover a wire.

FAQ

How does real estate wire fraud usually work?

Someone gets into, or imitates, the email of a person in your transaction, such as your agent, escrow officer or attorney. Close to closing, they send new wiring instructions for your down payment or closing funds. The money goes to an account they control. The CFPB’s archived guidance says scammers can closely copy the email address, phone number and format of real messages.

How do I check that wiring instructions are real?

Call your escrow officer at a phone number you got before closing, from a source you trust, not from the email with the instructions. Confirm the account name and number by voice. Never act on instructions that arrive only by email, and treat any last-minute change as a warning sign.

What should I do if I already wired money to the wrong account?

Call your bank right away and ask it to recall the wire, then file a complaint at ic3.gov with the full transaction details. The FBI’s IC3 says time is of the essence. Also tell your escrow officer and your agent.

Can wired money be recovered?

Sometimes. In 2025, the IC3 Recovery Asset Team worked 3,900 incidents involving about $1.16 billion in attempted theft and froze about $679 million, roughly 58% of it. Speed matters, and there is no guarantee.

How do I check that an escrow company is licensed in Washington?

Washington escrow agents must be licensed by the Department of Financial Institutions unless they fall under an exemption, such as a bank, a title insurer, or a lawyer handling escrow through a trust account (RCW 18.44.021). The DFI website lets you verify a license and file a complaint.

Talk it through with a local agent

Peter Kim and Odigo Real Estate Club can go over how and when money moves in your purchase, and who you’ll be confirming it with, before you send a dollar, with 25+ years combined experience, 593+ closings, and 122 five-star Zillow reviews. See our home buying services.

Odigo Real Estate Club · REAL Brokerage, WA #112064 · 16108 Ash Way, Suite 201, Lynnwood, WA 98087 · (425) 409-3823 · Mon–Sat 9 AM–6 PM, closed Sunday

Sources

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mortgage closing scams: how to protect yourself and your closing funds (archived blog post; prevention steps and what to do if it happens), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/blog/mortgage-closing-scams-how-protect-yourself-and-your-closing-funds/ , accessed Nov 4, 2026.
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (crime type tables, state rankings, Recovery Asset Team results and guidance, crime type definitions), https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf , accessed Nov 4, 2026.
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, Internet Crime Complaint Center home page (where to file a complaint), https://www.ic3.gov/ , accessed Nov 4, 2026.
• Washington State Legislature, RCW 18.44.021 (escrow agent license required; exemptions), https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.44.021 , accessed Nov 4, 2026.
• Washington State Legislature, RCW 18.44.011 (escrow definitions), https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.44.011 , accessed Nov 4, 2026.
• Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Escrow agents (verify an escrow agent license; file a complaint), https://dfi.wa.gov/escrow-agents , accessed Nov 4, 2026.

‍