Real Estate, Email Scams Drive Billions in Losses
LOSSES TIED TO REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS and email-based scams surged again in 2025, according to the latest Internet Crime Report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), reinforcing the importance of title professionals and consumers to be aware of this constant threat.
The report shows business email compromise (BEC) and phishing/spoofing schemes remain among the most costly forms of cybercrime, with criminals continuing to target high-value transactions like real estate closings to maximize returns. Overall, the FBI reported cybercrimes defrauded Americans of nearly $21 billion, with cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence-related complaints among the costliest. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 1,008,597 total complaints, an increase from 859,532 in 2024.
“Fraud is not a side issue in housing. It is a major part of the affordability story,” said Chris Morton, chief executive officer of ALTA. “The FBI’s latest data shows real estate fraud is growing in a threat environment shaped by impersonation, business email compromise and AI-enabled deception. As losses rise, removing safeguards does not eliminate costs; it shifts them to consumers, lenders, insurers and the broader housing finance system.”
The latest iteration of the FBI’s report also analyzes the impact artificial intelligence (AI) is having on fraud. Like most technology, AI can be used for legitimate, helpful purposes or for criminal motives. AI technology enables the creation of convincing synthetic content, such as social media profiles and personalized conversations, often in mass quantities. People have manipulated video and audio similarly for decades, but the widespread availability of this developing technology makes it possible to create high-quality content. AI-enabled synthetic content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make, which allows criminal actors to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against individuals, businesses and financial institutions. In 2025, the IC3 received more than 22,000 complaints reporting AI-related information. Adjusted losses of these complaints exceeded $893 million.
AI-enabled chat can quickly create official-sounding emails mimicking a company’s CEO or other leaders. These emails often contain phishing links or directions to wire funds. Voice cloning can also be used to request wire payments. In 2025, businesses reported losses of over $30 million to BEC scams involving AI.
“It has never been more important to be diligent with your cybersecurity, social media footprint and electronic interactions,” said Jose Perez, operations director for the criminal and cyber branch of the FBI. “Cyber threats and cyber-enabled crime will continue to evolve as the world embraces emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.”
Real Estate Losses Remain Significant
In 2025, victims reported more than $275 million in losses tied to real estate transactions, underscoring the sector’s vulnerability. This is up from $174 million in losses involving real estate transactions in 2024. While the number of complaints is smaller than other cybercrime categories, the high-dollar value per transaction makes real estate especially attractive to fraudsters. A single successful attack can result in six- or seven-figure loss, often impacting a consumer’s life savings. These schemes most commonly involve fraudulent wire instructions.
BEC Continues to Lead in Financial Impact
Across all industries, business email compromise accounted for more than $3.0 billion in reported losses in 2025, making it one of the most financially damaging cybercrimes. Losses due to BEC were $2.8 billion in 2024.
In real estate transactions, BEC schemes typically involve:
- Spoofed or compromised email accounts
- Fake or altered wiring instructions
- Last-minute changes designed to create urgency
Criminals often pose as title agents, lenders or real estate professionals, inserting themselves into legitimate conversations to manipulate the flow of funds.
Phishing and Spoofing Fuel the Attacks
Phishing and spoofing remain foundational to these schemes, with hundreds of thousands of incidents reported in 2025, resulting in losses of $216 million (compared to $70 million in losses in 2024). Phishing and spoofing were the most frequently reported complaints last year at 191,561.
These tactics allow bad actors to:
- Steal login credentials
- Monitor email communications
- Mimic trusted parties at critical moments
- Once inside a transaction, fraudsters wait until wiring instructions are expected, and then strike.
Real estate transactions present an ideal environment for fraud due to multiple parties communicating across email, time-sensitive deadlines, large wire transfers and limited direct verification between parties. This combination creates opportunities to exploit both process gaps and human trust.