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Imagine this: Your client is ready to purchase their first home! You share bank details with them via email and SMS. Unfortunately, this leaves you open to the rising trend in hackers intercepting your email or text messages and posing as you, sending a further communication to your client ‘updating’ them about new deposit account details, thereby redirecting the deposit into fraudulent bank accounts. A successful hacking attempt can lead to significant financial loss, reputational damage and insurance and litigation issues.
Remember that hackers pick opportunities, not victims. Scamming attacks don’t just happen when you respond to dodgy emails. Hackers can find more sophisticated ways to trick you and your clients unexpectedly. Hackers aren't just after your client’s credit card details anymore.
Now, they're focused on infiltrating large value transactions. This makes the property market especially alluring as it involves constant high-value money transfers between several parties. Hackers become experts at breaking into email accounts and following transactions as they progress, so they can strike while the iron is hot. They know when your client is ready to transfer the deposit and they send a perfectly timed email from the hacked account with false bank details to redirect funds into their own accounts.
There have been several recent high-profile property fraud cases in Australia involving these type of phishing schemes that have resulted in significant financial loss for buyers/sellers and reputational damage for service providers.
To assist with this accountability, real estate agents can rely on their technology provider to support them through legislative updates and simplify workflows.
Purpose-built technology can keep you and your firm safe
A key factor in protecting your clients is understanding their cyber security concerns and safeguarding their deposit. This is a key part of ensuring that all due diligence is met in preparation for sale. When considering the purchase of a property, find ways to protect your clients from hackers or developer bankruptcy or insolvency. Securexchange is smart technology that can help real estate agents to protect property transactions. It allows you to share and receive access to account details in a secure environment accessible only to an authorised network of verified users.
Password-only access will soon be a thing of the past. More and more businesses are implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) to safeguard their data, particularly in light of the increased prevalence of phishing. While it might sound technical, MFA is an essential part of making sure we are protected digitally. What MFA entails is two or more steps to verify that you are who you say you are, so that even if a password falls into the wrong hands, there is an extra layer of security needed to prove who is trying to access your information.
Real estate agents need to protect their client’s sensitive information and should use software tools to do so. The key to Securexchange is that only verified parties can view trust account and deposit information, streamlining communication between those parties and offering transparency over the progress of the exchange.
While people are not deliberately targeted, they will always remain the biggest threat to cybersecurity. It may only take one absentminded click or keying in the wrong email address and you could be facing a serious data breach. That's why education and awareness are key. All businesses should have cybersecurity training and procedures in place to ensure vigilance and best practice.
To find out more about how you can safeguard your client funds from cybercrime, visit https://www.securexchange.com.au/
About InfoTrack
InfoTrack creates smart technology for smart professionals. We provide an integrated platform that enables our clients to find, analyse, organise and communicate information efficiently and effectively. InfoTrack has been at the forefront helping businesses through technology innovation for over 19 years and has a deep understanding of the legal conveyancing industry with over 8,000 legal clients across Australia.
ABOUT SECUREXCHANGE
Securexchange is a new standard in property exchanges, powered by award winning technology company InfoTrack. Securexchange is a simple and secure mobile website that enables you to exchange information about a property transaction in a safe place, away from the prying eyes of hackers.
https://www.securexchange.com.au/
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