LEAGUE CITY, Texas (KTRK) – Julie Voss went through her inbox and counted 220 emails she received from her mortgage broker, real estate agent and title company in the month before putting down a deposit on her dream home.

Among all those emails, Voss said there was one from a fraudster posing as his mortgage broker and asking him to wire $77,500 for the down payment on his new home.

“I have attached transfer instructions to the escrow account,” read the June 4 email, deceptively signed using the real name of someone at the mortgage company she worked with .

Voss said the email included the exact amount her broker previously told her she owed. Like every other email she received during the home buying process, it was sent to her and her husband, so she didn’t suspect anything suspicious.

Now, she says, based on the details included in the scam email, she believes her mortgage broker was hacked.

“The timing was impeccable,” Voss said. “My mortgage broker had already said that the title company was going to want the deposit up front and that wiring instructions would come to me, and then he sent an email to the title company saying, please send the instructions wiring and then they came (in the fraudulent email).”

Voss said she didn’t learn she’d wired the money to the wrong person until a week later, when she received a phone call from her title company on the day she was supposed to close the House.

“They sent me the final statement and I said, ‘OK, but I already wired the $77,500.’ They said, “Where did you send it? We don’t have it?” And immediately they picked up the phone and called me and said, “We think you may have been a victim.” of wire fraud,” Voss said. “I thought I was going to throw up.”

Last year alone, the FBI said $2.9 billion was stolen from Americans through emails that victims thought came from legitimate sources.

Since the bank Voss wired the money to was in Pasadena, the local police department took charge of the case.

Detective Jonathan Jernigan of the Pasadena Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit said, unfortunately, he was not surprised by the case.

Jernigan said that, as shocking as it may seem, losing $77,000 to a scam, it’s actually on the low end of what he’s seen stolen from victims.

“I saw $100,000. Nothing really shocks me. It’s just very sad and I’ll do my best to try to help,” he said. “The technology as it is helps us, but it also helps the criminals at the same time.”

He said financial crimes investigations could take months or even years, depending on how long it takes to retrieve records from financial institutions or if they have to refer the case to another agency because the fraudster is out of business. ‘State.

“In the state of Texas, we have a lot more latitude and a lot more agencies willing to help us. What we really need to find out is where is this information coming from or where is this call coming from, and even that is sometimes difficult,’” says Jernigan. “We were able to, in some way, prove who was actually behind the phone, who was behind the IP address, who owns the IP address where this information was coming in. It could have been a public IP address, it could have been a hijacked one. It gets very complicated.

Jernigan said he encourages residents to always be vigilant in protecting themselves and their money.

“Don’t be afraid to confront the person you’re talking to in the email. Don’t be afraid to validate and try to control these people,” he said. “Don’t just assume that an email that comes to us is legitimate. We get emails all the time saying you won this, you won that. Just be very vigilant, scrutinize every email, every phone call.”

For example, he said if you receive an email that looks legitimate but want to speak to someone to confirm it is, don’t just call the number or extension listed on the email.

He said you should call the person you are communicating with before receiving the email or any main office number you previously had for the business you know is legitimate.

He said that while it is human nature to be trustworthy and believe the best in people, it is also important to be skeptical these days to ensure that one is not taken advantage of. you when you send money to someone.

“Check the email, check, check, check. Just be vigilant. That’s all you can really do,” he said. “Technology is designed to help us in the world, but it also opens the door to a lot of criminal activity.”

He said in this type of case, the victim is unlikely to get their money back, but they hope the fraudster will be held criminally responsible.

“Members of my family have been affected by this. I remember being a victim of identity theft when I was younger, so I know how much it can affect your life. I know how much the people are vulnerable,” he said. “We have a lot of elderly people in our society these days and they are exploited daily. It breaks my heart that they lose all their savings, are embarrassed and don’t want to talk to their family and for every report we get in our office, I guarantee there are probably 10 that don’t report it.”

In Voss’ case, Jernigan said he now knows the money ended up in central California and the case was being transferred to the local police department. He said the fraudsters withdrew the money under the guise of a fake company. He said the fake company was using the name of a real company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Voss said that, like most people, she not only has $77,500 on hand, but was able to purchase the League City home using money she recently received from her mother’s estate following his death earlier this year.

“I felt like when we moved here there was a huge black cloud hanging over our house,” she said. “I’m grateful no one was hurt. I have a friend whose son was murdered because of his watch. There are so many things I’m grateful for. I’m grateful I had the money that allowed us to close the house, but it still feels like grief because you feel like a victim Luckily, I’ve never been a victim of a crime and now I understand how people feel and that. puts you in danger with every email I receive, with every phone call understand, I wonder. It’s like I’ve somehow lost faith that people are good.

Voss said she might have expected her 97-year-old grandmother to be scammed, but she never thought she would.

“Fraud can happen to anyone. I’ve done all kinds of training on phishing emails and I’m very aware of what a scam looks like. I don’t think I realized what a scam can be effective,” she said. “For anyone buying a house or transferring money anywhere, make sure you get wiring instructions in person and don’t take anything over email.”

For updates on this story, follow Kevin Ozebek on Facebook, Twitter And Instagram.

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