过户汇款怎么防诈骗？汇款前要核对什么、汇错了怎么办

Short answer: If you get an email or message near closing saying the wiring instructions have changed, don't send the money yet. Call your escrow officer at a number you already had, such as the one on the escrow company's website or in your opening documents, and confirm the account name and number one by one before you wire. If you have already wired to the wrong account, call your bank right away to request a recall and file a report with the FBI at ic3.gov. The faster you act, the better the chance of getting the money back.

How the scam usually works

The fraudster typically hacks or quietly monitors an email account belonging to someone in the deal: the buyer, the seller, an agent, the escrow company or the title company. When closing is close and a large wire is about to go out, they send an "updated wiring instructions" email. Common signs:

• The sender's address is almost right: one extra letter, a 1 in place of an l, .co instead of .com, or a free email account.
• The tone is urgent: "You must wire by this afternoon or closing will be delayed," or "Our usual account is under audit, please use this new one."
• The phone number in the signature or attachment belongs to the scammer. Someone answers and "confirms" the new account.
• The letterhead, logo, property address, amount and closing date all match, because the scammer has read the real emails.

New account numbers don't only come by email. Treat ones sent by text message or WeChat the same way.

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) issued an alert in 2018, reissued in 2020, warning that criminals often pose as the escrow company, title company or agent and send legitimate-looking wiring instructions, with the money often ending up in an overseas account. In November 2025 the DRE warned again that these email scams are getting harder to spot, and told consumers to watch for addresses with slight changes in the domain name.

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center's 2025 Internet Crime Report counted 24,768 business email compromise (BEC) complaints that year, with about $3.05 billion in reported losses. That figure covers all industries; real estate wire diversion falls in this category. One example from the report: in August 2025, a couple about to close on a home received an email impersonating their attorneys and wired more than $449,000. After they reported it, IC3's team asked the receiving bank to freeze the account, and the bank reported that the full amount was still there and on hold.

How to verify wiring instructions

• When escrow opens, write down the phone numbers for your escrow officer and agent. Get them from a source you found yourself, such as the company website or a business card or document handed to you in person, not from an email signature.
• Call before every wire, both the deposit and the final funds before closing. Even if you confirmed the account before, confirm it again.
• On the call, ask them to read out the bank name, ABA routing number, account number, account name and the escrow number to reference, and check each item against your instructions. The account is usually the escrow company's trust account. If it shows a person's name or an unrelated company, stop and ask.
• Treat any notice that "the account has changed" as suspicious until you have called. As a general practice, escrow companies don't change their receiving account in the middle of a transaction with a single email.
• After you wire, call again to confirm the funds arrived.
• Don't send bank account numbers, Social Security numbers or similar details by regular email or text.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also suggests picking two trusted people, such as your agent and escrow officer, to confirm the closing process and payment instructions, writing down their names and numbers, and agreeing on a code phrase only you and they know.

Independent escrow companies in California are licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). If you have doubts about a company, look up its license on the DFPI website and contact it using what you find there.

Genuine or suspicious

Sellers are targets too

• Scammers pose as the seller and email escrow asking to send the sale proceeds to a different account.
• Others pose as the seller's lender and send a fake payoff amount and account.
• When you give escrow your account for the proceeds, submit it the way escrow asks, then call to confirm they have the same number you gave. If a "change of payout account" request appears later and you didn't make it, call escrow right away.
• If an email claiming to be from escrow asks you to "update your bank details" or log in through a link, call first.

Wiring from overseas or from a Chinese-language bank

• International wires pass through intermediary banks and can take several business days to arrive. Schedule well ahead of closing. Being rushed in the last few days is exactly when scammers do best.
• Intermediary banks may deduct fees, so the amount received can be less than what you sent. Ask your escrow officer how much difference to expect and whether to send extra.
• Fill in the beneficiary name, account number, SWIFT code and reference (escrow number, property address) using the details you confirmed by phone.
• Keep the bank receipt and wire reference number. Your bank and the FBI will need them if something goes wrong.
• If you are getting a loan, the lender will usually ask you to document where large funds came from, for example bank statements, a gift letter or currency exchange records. Ask your loan officer and your bank early which documents they need.
• If family overseas is wiring for you, walk them through these steps. They should only use details you confirmed by phone, and should check with you first if anyone says the account has changed.
• Once money goes overseas, recovering it involves more agencies. The IC3 report notes that freezing international transfers requires coordination with the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and foreign law enforcement. A few minutes on the phone before you wire is much easier than chasing money afterward.

What to do if you already wired to the wrong account

The FBI's 2025 report puts it plainly: if you discover a fraudulent transfer, time is of the essence.

1. Call the bank that sent the wire immediately (if it went from a bank in China, call that bank), say it was fraud, request a recall of the wire, and ask what documents the bank needs you to sign.
2. File a complaint at ic3.gov, whatever the amount. Include the full transaction details: date, amount, receiving bank name and address, account number, and the email addresses and phone numbers the scammer used. IC3's Recovery Asset Team uses these reports to contact receiving banks and request a freeze.
3. Call your escrow officer at the number you already had, explain what happened, and hold any further wires.
4. Report it to your local police department and keep the report number.
5. Change your email password and turn on two-factor authentication. Keep the suspicious emails as they are; don't delete them.
6. Be wary of anyone offering to "recover your money." In April 2025 the FBI warned that scammers are impersonating IC3 staff. IC3 does not charge to recover funds and does not refer victims to companies that charge for recovery.

If you want to confirm wiring details for a specific transaction, call (714) 470-0170 or add WeChat jly54301. We speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Please confirm wiring details by phone, using the number you find on our website, vantageescrowinc.com, or in your opening documents. Even if a number in an email looks the same, look it up yourself before you dial.