Fraudsters hit agents

REAL estate offices have been warned to ramp up their IT security, with increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals able to access computer systems and funnel off funds.

REIQ advised that cybercriminals are targeting conveyances in progress to then divert money to their own accounts.

The most common method is to impersonate the agent to request clients to transfer deposit funds to a “new or updated” account belonging to the fraudster.

Agents can take precautions, including advising clients to only transfer funds after speaking over the phone, and not opening email attachments from unknown sources.