'Sophisticated scam' local real estate company almost falls victim

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — A new email spoofing scam is hitting the real estate market in Palm Beach Gardens. Scammers sent an email to real estate company Echo Fine Properties pretending to be an agent looking for their commission check.

That agent they were pretending to be had just sold a $10 million home. The message came from an email that looked exactly like this realtor's email address and even used the format they used in the process. The email states:

Attached below is the filled form and voided check from my bank. Kindly let me know when you receive this and has been updated.

The agent being impersonated called the company and said they had not received their commission check yet. Jeff Lichtenstein, the owner, and broker of Echo Fine Properties was then notified.

"I called our administrator....our administrator said that she had changed her bank wiring instructions, she had a new bank, and I called the agent and said, you had a new bank, and maybe the amount is a high amount, and they're verifying it.," said Lichtenstein.

That agent said they didn't change their bank information. That's when red flags were raised.

Luckily, Lichtenstein's company caught this scam before it was too late, but others are not as lucky.

PC Network Solutions Lead Network Administrator, Angel Arias says scams like this are easy to spot once you know what to look for.

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“Things that are out of the ordinary. CEO asking for gift cards that’s not something they normally do, so you want verbal confirmation—not just an email," said Arias.

PC Network Solutions Owner Bill Panaggio says verbal confirmation is essential.

“There’s something called spoofing an email. They mimic your email address and they send on the owner or CEO’s behalf—and unless you check—what we suggest is giving a phone call," said Panaggio.

After this close call, Echo Fine Properties is now moving to an old-school format: doing everything by hand.

“We're doing like our direct deposits, everything's old school on paper, and then lock in a file type of a thing. So it's not out there for somebody to steal, and then I have to go and physically sign off on anything,” said Lichtenstein

Lichenstein told CBS12 he called the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department to report the incident. He said the person who answered the phone told him this was the fourth call that day the department received regarding similar money wiring situations.

CBS12 spoke with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, they said while this feels like a real estate scam, they can't determine that yet. This is an open investigation and police are gathering information.