A buyer wires $239,000 to close on a Plantation townhouse. The wiring instructions came from what looked like the title company’s email address — same logo, same signature block, same transaction details. Three days later, the real title company calls asking where the money is. The buyer’s bank confirms the wire went through. The account it went to? Already emptied.
This is business email compromise, and it happens every week in South Florida. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 12,368 real estate fraud complaints nationwide in 2025, with losses topping $275 million. That number only covers reported cases. Plenty of victims never file because they assume the money is gone and nothing can be done.
Sometimes that’s true. But what happens next — whether you recover anything, who bears the loss, and what legal claims you have — depends entirely on how fast you move and what Florida law says about the money you wired.
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How Closing Funds Get Diverted in Florida
Criminals don’t break into title company offices and steal checks. They compromise email accounts or create near-perfect spoofs, then insert themselves into ongoing transactions. A buyer receives legitimate emails from the title company for weeks. Then, two days before closing, a new email arrives with “updated wiring instructions” due to a “bank account change” or some other plausible reason.
The email looks real. The sender’s address is off by one letter — maybe “closings@titlefla.com” instead of “closings@titlefl.com.” The phone number listed in the email goes to the scammer, not the title company. The buyer wires the funds. The title company never sees them.
Common patterns in these schemes:
- The fraudulent email arrives during the narrow window when large sums are about to move — usually 24 to 72 hours before closing.
- Scammers monitor inboxes for weeks, learning the transaction timeline and the parties’ communication style.
- When they strike, the instructions often include urgent language: “Wire today or the closing will be delayed,” or “Our bank requires same-day processing.”
- The receiving account name may not match the title company’s exact legal name. Sometimes it’s close — “Sunshine Title Services LLC” versus “Sunshine Title & Escrow LLC.” Other times the account is in an individual’s name with no connection to the transaction.
- By the time anyone notices, the money has moved through two or three accounts and may already be overseas.
Florida guidance from the Department of Financial Services and local bar associations hammers one point: never rely solely on email for wiring instructions. Verify by phone using a number you already have — not one provided in the suspicious email. Treat any last-minute change in wiring details as fraud until you independently confirm otherwise.
What Florida Law Says About Escrow and Closing Funds
Florida Statutes § 626.8473 governs how title insurance agencies handle escrow funds. Once money hits a licensed title agency’s escrow account, it becomes trust property held in a fiduciary capacity. The statute requires these funds to be deposited immediately into a Florida financial institution, kept separate from the agency’s own accounts, and disbursed only according to closing instructions.
Violating these rules isn’t just a breach of contract. Conversion of escrow funds is a felony under § 626.8473, scaling up to a first-degree felony when the amount exceeds $100,000. The statute treats misappropriation of client funds as both a civil wrong and a crime.
But wire fraud usually happens before funds ever reach the escrow account. A buyer wires $200,000 to what they think is the title company’s account. The money lands in a fraudster’s account instead. The title company never receives it, never holds it in trust, and has no funds to disburse or return. At that point, § 626.8473 doesn’t directly apply because the escrow holder never took possession.
Real estate brokers operate under different rules. Florida Statutes § 475.25 and Florida Administrative Code Chapter 61J2-14 govern broker-held deposits. When a broker receives conflicting demands over escrowed money — say, after a failed closing — the broker must notify the Florida Real Estate Commission within 15 business days and follow specific procedures: request an escrow disbursement order, pursue arbitration or mediation with consent, or file an interpleader action in court.
These broker rules mostly address post-closing disputes, not cybercrime. But they show how Florida law views escrow money: as property that must be handled neutrally and carefully, with strict accountability when things go wrong.
For pre-construction condominium buyers, Florida Statutes § 718.202 adds another layer. The first 10% of the purchase price must be held in escrow by a licensed escrow agent until closing. Deposits above 10% go into a separate special escrow account with limited permissible uses. Willful violation of these escrow requirements is a third-degree felony, and failure to establish the required escrow is prima facie evidence of intent to defraud.
Who Bears the Loss When Money Goes to the Wrong Account
There is no blanket rule in Florida stating that buyers always lose, or that title companies always pay, when closing funds are diverted. Liability depends on what happened, who knew what, and whether any licensed professional breached a duty.
If money never reaches the legitimate escrow account, the title company or closing attorney may argue they never received the funds and therefore have no obligation to return them. The buyer wired money to a criminal. The escrow holder never took possession. From the escrow holder’s perspective, the transaction never funded.
That doesn’t mean the buyer has no recourse. It means the analysis shifts to whether any Florida professional’s negligence contributed to the loss. Potential claims include:
- Negligence or professional malpractice for failing to warn clients about wire fraud risks, failing to implement reasonable verification procedures, or sending wiring instructions through unsecured channels without redundant safeguards. Some title companies and closing attorneys now require buyers to confirm wiring instructions by phone before sending funds, and they document that confirmation. Others still email instructions with no follow-up. The difference matters in litigation.
- Breach of fiduciary duty if an escrow agent or attorney owed a duty to protect client funds and failed to take reasonable steps. Florida law treats escrow holders as fiduciaries. If a title company emails wiring instructions knowing that business email compromise is a common threat, and takes no steps to verify the buyer received legitimate instructions, that may support a fiduciary breach claim.
- Statutory violations under § 626.8473 or the broker escrow rules can be evidence in civil cases and can also trigger administrative discipline by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A title agent who mishandles escrow funds or fails to follow statutory safeguards risks license suspension or revocation, in addition to civil liability.
Say a buyer wires funds to an account controlled by the seller’s attorney, and that attorney then diverts the money for personal use. Florida Statutes § 626.8473 criminalizes conversion of escrow funds by title agents. A recent federal case involved a Florida attorney who diverted mortgage payoff proceeds meant for lienholders into accounts he controlled, then submitted closing statements falsely showing the liens had been paid. That conduct triggered both federal wire fraud charges and state-level fiduciary violations.
The key question in most disputes: did the escrow holder ever receive the funds, and if not, did any professional’s failure to follow reasonable security practices cause the loss?
Federal and State Criminal Enforcement
Real estate wire fraud is typically prosecuted as a federal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, the wire fraud statute. Using interstate wires — email, phone, bank transfers — to execute a fraud scheme is a federal crime. Cases often also involve bank fraud, identity theft, and money laundering charges.
Florida has its own criminal statutes covering organized fraud and theft, but the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices handle most wire fraud prosecutions because the crimes cross state lines and involve the federal banking system.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center tracks business email compromise separately from other fraud types. In 2025, BEC accounted for roughly $3 billion in losses across nearly 25,000 complaints, making it one of the highest-loss cybercrime categories. Real estate wire fraud falls into this bucket.
When fraud involves a Florida-licensed professional who misuses escrow funds, state prosecutors may bring charges under § 626.8473 or related statutes. Conversion of trust funds is a third-degree felony at lower amounts, scaling to a first-degree felony above $100,000. Prosecutors treat these cases seriously because they involve fiduciary violations by licensed professionals who are supposed to safeguard client money.
The First 24 Hours After You Discover the Wire Went to the Wrong Account
Minutes matter. Recovery odds drop sharply once money moves through multiple accounts or leaves the country. A 2025 FBI report on its Recovery Asset Team showed a 58% success rate freezing funds when victims reported the fraud immediately and the FBI intervened with the receiving bank. That success rate assumes the victim acted within hours, not days.
- Contact your bank’s fraud department immediately — not a branch representative, the actual fraud or wire department.
- Request a wire recall. If the wire was international, ask the bank to initiate a SWIFT recall.
- Some banks can place holds on outgoing wires if contacted within 24 to 72 hours, but there are no guarantees once the funds leave your account.
- File a complaint at IC3.gov the same day. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center is the federal portal for reporting cybercrimes, including wire fraud.
You will need:
- The exact amount and date of the wire transfer.
- Sending and receiving bank names, account numbers, and routing numbers.
- The email addresses, phone numbers, and any other contact information from the fraudulent instructions.
- Copies of the emails or documents you relied on.
- A timeline of what happened.
Filing with IC3 triggers the FBI’s Financial Fraud Kill Chain, a process where the FBI contacts the receiving bank and requests a freeze on the account. For wires over $50,000, especially international transfers, this can be effective if done immediately. The 2025 data showed the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team handled about 3,900 recovery incidents, freezing roughly $679 million out of $1.16 billion in attempted fraudulent transfers.
Notify everyone involved in the transaction: the title company, your closing attorney, your lender, your Realtor. They need to preserve emails, check their own systems for compromise, and alert their insurers. If the fraud involved a spoofed email from the title company, the title company’s cybersecurity insurer may cover part of the loss. If the fraud came from a compromised Realtor account, the brokerage’s errors and omissions policy may be implicated.
Call local law enforcement and, if the amount is large, the nearest FBI field office. Some local agencies treat these cases as civil disputes and decline to investigate. Push back. Wire fraud is a federal crime, and a police report creates a record you will need for insurance claims and civil litigation.
Preserve everything. Do not delete emails, texts, or voicemails. Save all wiring instructions, bank confirmations, and closing documents in multiple places — your email, a hard drive, and cloud storage. Write down a chronological timeline while the details are fresh: who sent what, to whom, when, and what you did in response.
Long-Term Recovery: Civil Claims, Insurance, and Administrative Remedies
After the immediate recovery window closes, victims pursue longer-term options.
Civil litigation is common. Potential claims include fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and professional malpractice. Who you sue depends on the facts. If a title company or closing attorney sent wiring instructions by email without verification procedures, and you relied on those instructions, you may have a negligence claim. If a Realtor’s email was compromised and fake instructions came from their account, the brokerage’s errors and omissions policy may cover the loss.
Florida Statutes § 95.11(3)(i) sets a four-year statute of limitations for fraud claims. But if the fraud was concealed — meaning you could not have discovered it through reasonable diligence — Florida Statutes § 95.031(2)(a) extends the limitations period. The four-year period then runs from when the fraud was discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence, but the claim must be filed no more than 12 years after the fraud was committed, regardless of when you discovered it.
In practice, most wire fraud victims discover the problem within days or weeks of closing. The limitations period is rarely an issue. But if a licensed professional concealed their role in the loss, the extended discovery rule may apply.
Cyber insurance and title insurance sometimes cover wire fraud losses, depending on policy language. Standard homeowner’s policies typically exclude business transactions, and closing a real estate purchase is considered a business transaction. Some title insurance policies now offer optional wire fraud endorsements, but they are not automatic. Buyers who purchased enhanced coverage or specific cyber fraud riders may recover part of the loss through their title insurer.
If the fraud involved a Florida-licensed professional — a broker, title agent, or escrow holder — victims can file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The complaint form (DBPR 0070) is available online. Filing triggers an administrative investigation that can lead to fines, license suspension, or revocation. A DBPR complaint does not compensate the victim, but it can result in disciplinary action that prevents the professional from harming others.
The Florida Real Estate Commission oversees broker escrow handling under § 475.25 and Florida Administrative Code Chapter 61J2-14. If a broker mishandled escrow funds or ignored statutory procedures after a wire fraud loss, a complaint to FREC may result in administrative penalties.
Whether you are buying a home, dealing with a landlord dispute, or recovering from an injury, Eric Goldman can help. Serving clients throughout Florida.
What Most Buyers and Sellers Miss About Wire Fraud Risk
The single biggest mistake is assuming the title company or closing attorney will protect you. Florida does not require title companies to implement specific wire fraud safeguards. Some have robust verification procedures — requiring phone confirmation of wiring instructions using a pre-verified number, sending instructions through secure portals instead of email, and training staff to recognize phishing attempts. Others email wiring instructions with no follow-up and assume buyers will call if something seems off.
Buyers bear the risk of verifying wiring instructions before sending funds. That is not fair, but it is the reality. If you wire money to the wrong account because you relied on a fraudulent email, the title company may argue it never sent that email and never received your funds. Your only recourse is proving the title company’s negligence contributed to the loss.
Before closing, ask your title company or closing attorney:
- How will I receive wiring instructions?
- Will you send them by email, mail, or secure portal?
- What verification steps do you require before I wire funds?
- Do you have a policy of confirming wiring instructions by phone using a number I already have?
If the answer is vague or dismissive, push harder. Some title companies treat wire fraud as the buyer’s problem. Others recognize it as a shared risk and implement procedures to reduce it. The difference shows up in how they respond when fraud happens.
Verify wiring instructions by phone before sending any money. Use a phone number from earlier correspondence, your contract, or the company’s website — not a number provided in the email with the wiring instructions. Ask the person on the phone to read the account number, routing number, and account name aloud while you compare them to the written instructions. If anything differs, do not wire until you resolve the discrepancy.
Wire fraud thrives on urgency and trust. Scammers rely on buyers feeling pressured to close on time and assuming the title company’s email is legitimate. Slowing down and independently verifying instructions disrupts the scam. It feels awkward to question your closing attorney or title company, but it is a lot less awkward than explaining to your bank why you wired $200,000 to a criminal.
If you discover fraud, act immediately. Call your bank’s fraud department and the FBI. File an IC3 complaint. Notify everyone involved in the transaction. Preserve all records. The faster you move, the better your odds of freezing the funds before they disappear. After 72 hours, recovery becomes unlikely. After a week, it is nearly impossible unless the fraudster made a mistake.
And if you are working with a Florida real estate attorney or title company that does not take wire fraud seriously — if they dismiss your concerns or refuse to implement verification procedures — find someone else. This is not a theoretical risk. It happens every week, and the losses are catastrophic.
