Protect Yourself from Real Estate Fraud

Searching for the perfect home or rental property in Destin, Florida is an exciting journey and the end reward can be extremely gratifying. However, as with any transaction, there are risks. The team of real estate agents at Newman-Dailey has been following the growing national trend of real estate fraud.

In fact, last fall the National Association of Realtors began seeing this trend and warned its members of the resurgence of a 2012 e-mail scam preying on buyers nearing the closing of their deal. We are working to spread the word with our clients and industry partners to help protect buyers and sellers of this growing scam. Here are some tips to protect yourself from real estate fraud:

• Know your real estate agent’s e-mail and communication practices, and be aware of the possibility of fraudulent activity.
• Before wiring any funds, contact the intended recipient via a verified telephone number and confirm that the wiring information is accurate.
• Use encrypted e-mail if you must send information about a transaction via e-mail.
• Clean out your e-mail account on a regular basis. Over time, multiple e-mails can establish business practice patterns that hackers can use against you.
• Change your passwords regularly and use a combination of capital and lower case letters as well as numbers and symbols to make hacking more difficult.
• Use the most up-to-date firewall and anti-virus technologies available.
• Most importantly, if you think you are being targeted or have been hacked contact your agent immediately. 

The real estate team at Newman-Dailey is constantly monitoring local market, and following local and national real estate trends to provide expert counsel to buyers and sellers. If you’re in the market to purchase Destin real estate or are ready to list your property for sale, we invite you to contact our team of real estate sales professionals by email or call our office at 1-800-225-7652.

See you @ the beach!

 http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=4&id=339144

Published by Tracy Louthain
Monday, July 18, 2016