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Wire Fraud Exposure Calculator
Real estate wire fraud targets closing transfers — quantify your exposure and insurance gap.
Expected annual loss
$28,875
Uninsured gap per incident
$0
Expected annual incidents
0.15
How the math works
Incidents = closings × rate. Net loss = wire × (1 − recovery). Expected loss = incidents × net.
500 × 0.0003 = 0.15 incidents. $350k × 55% = $192.5k net loss × 0.15 = $28,875 expected annual loss.
How to Use
- Enter annual closing volume.
- Enter average wire size.
- Enter industry fraud incidence per 1,000 wires.
- Enter recovery rate %.
- Enter cyber-policy limit.
- Read expected loss and uninsured gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common is real estate wire fraud?
FBI IC3 reported $446M in real estate / rental BEC losses in 2022 alone, up from $221M in 2020. Incidence: roughly 1 in 300-500 closings sees an attempted intercept, and 1 in 3,000-5,000 results in actual loss. Title companies, escrow agents, and buyers are all targets; the fraudster typically spoofs email from the agent or attorney days before closing with new wire instructions.
Recovery odds?
IC3 Recovery Asset Team claws back roughly 70-75% of funds reported within 72 hours. After 72 hours, recovery drops below 20%. Full restitution is rare — roughly 30% of reported cases see partial recovery of 40-90%. Average recovery across all reported cases: 40-55%. Speed matters most: file IC3 and call receiving bank immediately.
Who pays if funds are lost?
Legal responsibility turns on negligence. Buyer who sent to fraud instructions without verifying by phone: typically eats the loss. Title company that had compromised email: can be liable if security was weak. Lender: almost never liable. Agents and attorneys carry E&O but most policies exclude social engineering absent a crime / cyber rider. Cyber insurance with social engineering coverage is the cleanest protection.
Prevention playbook?
Verify wire instructions by phone using a number from a separate channel (not the email signature). Never wire to instructions changed at the last minute. Use secure closing portals (Qualia, Earnnest, CertifID) that authenticate wire instructions end-to-end. Educate every party — most losses involve first-time buyers unaware of the threat. Title companies should carry $1-5M social engineering coverage.
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