https://cbs12.com/news/local/wire-fraud-victim-issues-warning-to-home-buyers
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MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) – Caroline Bahadourian has closed dozens of real estate deals and flipped over 40 properties, but her years of experience couldn’t protect her from a sophisticated property wire fraud scheme.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating after hackers made off with over $65,000 of Bahadourian’s life savings.
While Bahadourian is usually the one facilitating deals for others, this time she was the buyer. The loss occurred during what she thought was a standard property closing.
The fraud began when Bahadourian received what appeared to be legitimate wire instructions from her title company’s email address. Having already successfully wired escrow money days earlier, she had no reason to suspect the closing cost instructions were fraudulent.
“I didn’t know that I was about to send my entire savings to a fraudster,” Bahadourian told CBS12 News.
See also: Florida arrests 4 more in $1.7M fraud scheme involving over 200 fake claims
The realization that something was wrong didn’t hit until the actual title agent called her to ask about the missing funds. “The title agent called me, and I said, ‘Did you receive the money?’ She said, ‘No, no, we’re waiting for the money to clear.’”
Investigators say the email sent to Bahadourian was a near-perfect spoof of the title company’s actual address. Because the victim voluntarily initiates the transfer, these cases are notoriously difficult for law enforcement to pursue and can take months, if not years, to investigate.
Bahadourian now has a stern warning for anyone entering a real estate transaction: stop sending wires.
“I will never send a wire again,” she said. “What’s the alternative to that exactly? Cash or check. Even if the title agent is not happy about it, it’s up to them to send you a UPS envelope or FedEx overnight.”
Currently, none of the stolen funds have been recovered. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office emphasizes that because the money is transferred voluntarily before the fraud is discovered, the digital trail often goes cold quickly.
For Bahadourian, the financial loss is compounded by the uncertainty of the investigation.
“If someone could tell me now, ‘You will recover your money, even in a year,’ I could just breathe,” she said. “Not knowing is worse.”
Authorities advise all buyers to verbally verify wire instructions through a known phone number, not one provided in an email, before hitting “send” on any large transaction.
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