This article originally appeared on OriginatorTimes.com on August 3, 2017
(KPIX 5) — The San Francisco Bay Area, one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, is also turning out to be a prime target for cyber-criminals who are hacking realtors’ email accounts and sending home buyers false instructions to wire money.
It happened to East Bay realtor Kristina Solovieva. Last year, criminals hacked her Gmail account, and waited for just the right time to strike. “The timing was impeccable, actually,” Solovieva said. Just when it was time for one of Solovieva’s clients to send the remainder of their down payment to close escrow, the scammers sent the buyers an email from Solovieva’s account.
The email, seemingly from Solovieva, instructed the buyers to wire hundreds of thousands of dollars to an account. Luckily, the amount was off by $30 – enough to make the clients suspicious. “They were very savvy, and they did the math, and it didn’t add up,” said Solovieva.
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