Think it can't happen to you? Wrong. Here are a few examples....

Florida Family loses $77,000 in real estate wire fraud scam

Syndication investor loses $225,000 to a wire fraud phishing scam

When you wire money, you're essentially throwing it over a fence and hoping that you aimed in the right direction. There's no way to call the funds back, and if you aimed into the wrong person's yard, the money is gone.

Wire Fraud is (more or less) when a fraudster steps in and makes you aim your ball into the wrong yard on purpose.

Every wire fraud loss that I've seen secondhand was some form of man-in-the-middle attack.

The fraudsters hack one party's email, intercept wiring instruction emails, insert their own banking information, and wait. Unsuspecting investors transfer money to the fake account, and once it's sent, it's gone. The investor threw their ball into the wrong yard, and there is no way to get it back.

How to reduce your risk of wire fraud:

1. Call the person you're sending funds to, to verify their wiring instructions.

Use a phone number you've had in your records for some time and that you know you can trust. This is to be sure you're not calling a hacker! Verify the full details of your transaction.

2. Always use a secure method of sending documents.

We use Docusign in all of the syndications I'm involved in. This is not foolproof! Watch the video above to learn an important vulnerability of DocuSign.

3. Make sure your passwords are secure, unique for each account, and not guessable.

Use a password manager like LastPass. Secure passwords are critical to get the the highest level of security for your accounts.

4. Turn on two-factor authentication for every account you have.

You know when they send you a text message with a random code? That's a great way to protect your accounts, so hackers can't get in without having access to your phone number.

5. If you ever use public Wifi, use a Paid VPN service.

Unsecured Wifi is a gold mine for hackers, who can easily see all of your traffic if it is unencrypted. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) encrypt your information before it leaves your computer, so hackers can't see what you're doing and can't steal your information by watching traffic on the network.

I use Private Internet Access and I recommend it to anyone looking for an option. It's affordable, fast, and very easy to use on your computer and on your cell phone.

Please note:  I am not an Information Security professional, and there is no guarantee that these steps will fully protect you from wire fraud. However, in the cases I've seen secondhand, these steps would have completely prevented any loss. These steps are simple, fast, and inexpensive, so there is no reason to not implement them in your business today.