Banking, shopping, socializing, and schooling now happen on smartphones, tablets, and computers. Unfortunately, this gives scammers and hackers way more opportunities to do their nefarious work—and email is their preferred channel. Here is the FBI’s list of the seven most common forms of email crime—followed by the experts’ advice on how to stop them.

• Business email compromise (BEC). Scammers use email to steer wire transfer payments to an unauthorized account (theirs!). Anyone financing a home should watch for this scam.
• Email account compromise (EAC). Here, scammers impersonate someone legitimate and email you requests for payments. They may pose as your lender, asking for payment for a loan modification they say you need. They could claim they’re attorneys who help homeowners struggling with payments—for a fee. Others say they’re landlords with a great deal on a rental. If you send them a deposit, they’ll let you visit the property (which they don’t even own!). 
• Phishing. These forged emails look like they came from a familiar source. Phishing (aka vishing, smishing, pharming) emails can take you to a phony website where they get you to enter passwords, and credit card and bank account numbers. 
• Malware and ransomware. Scammers use links in emails to download damaging software—malware—onto your computer. This becomes “ransomware” when the malware locks you out of your computer and its data. The scammer then demands payment, usually in virtual currency such as Bitcoin, to restore your access. 
• Scareware. Scammers email you false threats to get you to send them money.
• Denial of service. Hackers block authorized users from accessing a system or network. 
• Data breach. Scammers use email to break into data at a secure location and transfer it to an unauthorized environment.

To stop these crimes:

• Never click on a link in an email unless you know the sender is emailing you one.
• Check email addresses. A familiar address that’s off just one character did not come from the source you thought it did.
• Verify wiring instructions. Phone the company emailing the wiring instructions and speak to a person involved with your transaction. Call the phone number on the company’s website, not the one in the email.
• Check URLs. Hover the cursor over a site address in an email to see if it’s associated with the represented business. Better yet, call the business—again, using the website phone number—and find out if they sent you an email with a link.
• Look for misspellings and bad grammar. Read suspicious emails carefully. Ones from legitimate companies should be error-free. 
• Never give out personal or financial information without confirming the identity of the person requesting it. This includes your Social Security number, and bank account and credit card numbers. Ask the person for credentials and look up the company they claim to represent.
• Keep informed and stay vigilant. Stay aware of cybercrime developments. Take a minute to check if a questionable email is legit.

Are any of your contacts buying or selling a home? We’d love to help! Please feel free to refer us.