Hackers Finding Ways To Scam Home Buyers Out Of Their Money
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NEW HAMPSHIRE (CBSMiami) – Years of hard-earned savings, gone in an instant.
One family saw the down payment on their dream home stolen by a hacker.
"It's devastating to live through and find out your dreams have changed," said hacking victim Paul LeBlanc.
This picturesque property was a dream for LeBlanc and his wife Erika.
After years of searching they found a lakefront home in Hillborough, New Hampshire was the perfect fit.
Within days the seller accepted their offer.
But little did Paul know, a hacker had infiltrated the email chain about the home purchase.
The scammer learned the address of the property and the exact date and time of the closing.
"A scary level of detail," Paul said, referring to the information the scammer had gathered.
The hacker posed as the title company and emailed Paul instructions on how to wire transfer his down payment.
It wasn't until the closing that Paul found his money was gone.
He had unknowingly transferred it into an account set up by the hacker.
"Over 140-thousand dollars," Paul said.
Anyone putting themselves in Paul's shoes at that moment has to be scared with the resulting feelings.
"Panic would be the first thing that came to my mind," he said.
Unfortunately, this kind of scam is not uncommon.
"It's a big problem," said FBI Special Agent Michael Kelly.
A problem so big that scammers have stolen three billion dollar globally, according to the FBI.
Victims range from deep-pocketed corporations to small-scale home buyers.
"There really is no individual or industry that is immune to this," Special Agent Kelly said.
According to Kelly, the scam is very hard to detect.
That's because hackers will create a fake email address, often simply switching around two letters, like the 'a' and the 'e' in Michael, to appear like the real one.
"People need to know this scheme exists because if you don't know, you're going to fall for it," said Kelly.
Paul and his family remain hopeful federal investigators will somehow track down and return the stolen money.
But with the lakefront property now back on the market, it seems their dream home will soon be gone for good.
"We were all fooled," Paul said.
