Whether you are a first-time home buyer, or going into it a bit seasoned, the process of buying a house requires you to give out sensitive information. There have been several scandals involving mortgage-related files being leaked to the public.
In May of 2019, First American Financials’ website leaked 16 years’ worth of files. A spokesman for First American Financial stated “a design defect in an application that made possible unauthorized access to customer data”. This security breach was responsible for 885 million files of bank account numbers, social security numbers, and tax records to be accessed.
Scams can happen on smaller levels as well. Many scammers will pose as a Real Estate agent or title insurance firm requesting money for a down payment or claiming they can hold their closing money in an escrow account.
These are the steps that consumers should take to keep their financial information private:
Keep your cyber house in order
In order to make sure these details stay well-protected; it is suggested that you change all your passwords to secure passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
It also is not a bad idea to look into credit-monitoring and identify-theft protection services at this time. Hackers can almost smell when someone as initiated the home-buying process and will sniff you out quicker than you may think.
Work with secure companies
When giving out sensitive information, it is important that you ask each company what their policies are for cybersecurity. Inquire about the type of databases used to store your information. Do your research on the companies and read reviews to make sure that previous customers have not been scammed.
Avoid e-mail
Most e-mail servers are not secure. Once you send an e-mail it goes off into a cyber cloud that is easily infiltrated. Hackers are also able to create fake e-mail addresses pretending to be your lender or Real Estate agent. If you are ever unsure about a sketchy e-mail, call your agent or insurer and ask to deliver the information in person.
