Avoid Phishing Scams Targeting Real Estate Agents near Lexington, KY
We live in a world where technological advances have given us breakthroughs in medicine, education, real estate, and nearly every other industry. While these breakthroughs are often incredible, these advances can also make it easier for people to take advantage of real estate agents using scams. Phishing is a type of social scam where an attacker sends a fraudulent message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker. At HomeServices Real Estate Academy, we want to stress to our students and our agents how important is to monitor your email and virtual communication and avoid falling victim to phishing scams specifically targeting the real estate industry.
Some Tips to Avoid Scams
Most, but not all, phishing scams targeting real estate agents will come via email. Luckily, there are steps you can take that will help you take good care of our email and other online communications to keep yourself and your client safe.
1. Double check the sender
The first step to ensuring an email you receive is legitimate is to double check the email address of the sender. Even if the name in your inbox is recognizable, be sure to double check the email address to the one you have on record or do some research with a search engine to double check. Some phishing scams will use similar emails to banks or clients but add an extra letter or punctuation mark to distinguish it. Attention to detail may be the different between falling for a phishing email or noticing it as a scam!
2. Consider what the email is asking you to do
Many phishing scams ask real estate agents to change a lockbox code or provide confidential bank information. Carefully consider the ask in the email or contact and see if it is realistic. If you are unsure, disregard the email and contact your bank or client directly via your normal communication method to verify the ask or debunk it as a phishing scam.
3. Keep an eye out for invoices
Many scammers will send over fake invoices in hopes that you or your Finance Team will pay it without consideration. While this may go without saying, double check the sender, date, amount, and details of each and every invoice you receive to ensure its validity before paying it.
4. Install anti-viral software and use multi-factor authentication
This may seem like a no-brainer, but installing anti-viral other software on your computer may help your email filter these phishing scams to your Junk folder. Be sure to install this software and update it whenever possible. If possible, you should also utilize multi-factor authentication as well for private and confidential information.
5. Report any phishing scam to the Federal Trade Commission
It is incredibly important that any and all phishing scams be reported so the information can be used to protect others who may have received similar messages or who will in the future. You can send details of any phishing scams you receive to the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint.
Contact Us
While advances in technology have no doubt made the role of the real estate agent more innovative, dynamic, and convenient, they will also require agents to be more careful when it comes to their communication and online presence. HomeServices Real Estate Academy is accredited by the Kentucky Real Estate Commission (KREC) and the Kentucky Commission on Proprietary Education (KCPE) and we are committed to providing you with the best education and tools to be successful as an agent. Contact us today to talk to our team about getting your real estate license! We proudly serve Lexington, Georgetown, Versailles, Paris, Nicholasville, Richmond, Harrodsburg, Frankfort, and Winchester, Kentucky.
