Real estate brokerages are unusual technology environments. Agents are often independent contractors who bring their own phones and laptops. Transactions move through email, e-signature platforms, transaction management systems, and the MLS. Large sums of money change hands at closing, which makes the brokerage a target for fraud.

Choosing an IT partner for a brokerage means finding someone who understands that environment. This buyer's guide explains what to look for and which questions to ask.

What Makes Brokerage IT Different

• Agents use personal devices. Brokerages can't manage agents' phones the way a typical company manages employee laptops.
• Agents come and go. Access must be granted quickly and removed completely.
• Email carries financial risk. Compromised mailboxes are a leading cause of wire fraud.
• Many cloud tools. MLS, CRM, e-signature, and transaction platforms each have their own logins and settings.
• Offices are often lightly staffed. The office manager may be the only person handling technology.

Capability 1: Email Security Focused on Fraud Prevention

Your IT partner should treat email security as a priority, not an add-on. Ask how they will:

• Require multifactor authentication for every agent and staff account.
• Detect suspicious sign-ins and new mailbox forwarding rules.
• Protect your domain from being spoofed.
• Help agents recognize phishing.

Capability 2: Agent Onboarding and Offboarding

A strong partner will have a repeatable process for setting up new agents with email, shared drives, and approved apps, and for removing access the day someone leaves. Ask how quickly they can complete each.

Capability 3: Practical Device Protection

Since agents often use personal phones, look for a partner who can protect brokerage data without taking over personal devices. Options include requiring screen locks to access email and separating work apps from personal apps so business data can be removed if a phone is lost or an agent leaves.

Capability 4: Office Infrastructure Support

Even cloud-focused brokerages need reliable Wi-Fi, printers, phones, conference room equipment, and secure guest networks for clients. Make sure the partner supports the physical office, not just accounts.

Capability 5: Backup for Cloud Data

Many brokerages assume their cloud platforms keep everything safe forever. Ask whether the partner backs up email and shared files independently, and how they'd recover deleted transaction documents.

Capability 6: Clear Communication

Brokers and office managers need explanations in plain language. Look for a partner who reports regularly on security, open issues, and recommended improvements. Strong partners hold regular planning conversations, similar to those described in six questions smart companies ask their IT provider every quarter.

Questions to Ask Potential IT Partners

1. What other brokerages or real estate offices do you support?
2. How do you protect agent email from compromise?
3. What's your process when an agent joins or leaves?
4. How do you handle agents' personal devices?
5. What would you do if an agent reported a suspicious wiring request?
6. Do you back up our cloud email and files?
7. What are your response times, and how do we reach you after hours?
8. What's included in the agreement, and what costs extra?

Red Flags

• No mention of wire fraud or email security risks.
• Recommending that all agents share one login for convenience.
• No defined process for removing departing agents.
• Vague answers about backups.
• Pricing that's unclear or full of add-ons.

What Affects Cost

Brokerage IT costs vary with the number of agents and staff, offices, devices the brokerage manages, the cloud tools in use, and the level of security and support required. A good partner will explain these factors and suggest a service level that fits.

Finding the Right Fit

The right IT partner lets brokers focus on growing the business, helps agents work securely from anywhere, and protects clients from fraud. Maise Technology supports real estate offices with managed IT support and cybersecurity services designed for how agents actually work.

Evaluating IT partners for your brokerage? Schedule A 15 Minute Discovery Call and ask us any question on this list.

Walk into almost any real estate office and you'll find one inbox that never sleeps. It might be called transactions@, closings@, or info@. A transaction coordinator, an office manager, and sometimes several agents all log in to it. Contracts, disclosures, inspection reports, lender updates, and title documents flow through it all day.

That shared inbox is the operational heart of the brokerage. It's also one of the most attractive targets for criminals, because it sees every deal, every deadline, and every dollar amount.

Here are the warning signs that a shared mailbox may be at risk, and what to do about each one.

Warning Sign 1: Everyone Knows the Password

Shared inboxes are often accessed with a single password that's been passed around for years. Former agents, past assistants, and temporary staff may still know it.

What to do: Most business email platforms let you set up a shared mailbox that staff open through their own individual accounts. Each person signs in with their own credentials and multifactor authentication. When someone leaves, you remove their access without changing anything for everyone else.

Warning Sign 2: No Second Login Step

If the shared inbox can be opened with only a password, a single phishing email could hand an attacker the keys to every active transaction.

What to do: Require multifactor authentication for every account that can reach the shared mailbox. This one step blocks the large majority of password-based break-ins.

Warning Sign 3: Mysterious Missing Emails

When attackers break into a mailbox, they often create hidden rules. These rules might forward copies of messages to an outside address, or automatically move emails containing words like "wire" or "closing" into a folder nobody checks.

What to do: If staff notice replies that never arrived or emails that seem to vanish, check the mailbox rules right away. Better yet, have alerts set up so new forwarding rules are flagged automatically.

Warning Sign 4: Sign-Ins From Unexpected Places

A shared inbox used by a Northern Utah office probably shouldn't be signing in from another country at 2 a.m.

What to do: Turn on sign-in alerts and review unusual activity. Many platforms can also block sign-ins from regions where your team doesn't work.

Warning Sign 5: Out-of-Office Messages That Overshare

Auto-replies that say "I'm out until Monday; contact our closing team at..." give criminals useful timing and names for impersonation. We cover this in detail in why your vacation auto-reply might be a hacker's favorite email.

What to do: Keep auto-replies short and generic. Avoid listing direct phone numbers, deal details, or travel plans.

Warning Sign 6: Personal Devices With Full Access

Agents often check the shared inbox on personal phones and home computers. If those devices are lost, shared, or infected, the inbox goes with them.

What to do: Require a screen lock on any phone that accesses brokerage email. Consider tools that let you remove company email from a lost device without erasing personal photos and apps.

Warning Sign 7: Nobody Owns Security for the Inbox

When everyone uses a mailbox, it's easy for no one to feel responsible for it.

What to do: Assign an owner, often the office manager or managing broker, who reviews access quarterly, confirms security settings, and is the go-to contact if something looks wrong.

Why This Matters for Wire Fraud

Many real estate wire fraud schemes begin with a compromised mailbox. Once inside, criminals study deals and wait for the perfect moment to send fake wiring instructions. Securing the shared inbox is one of the most effective ways to protect clients' closing funds.

A Quick Shared Inbox Checklist

• Shared mailbox accessed through individual accounts, not one shared password.
• Multifactor authentication on every user with access.
• Alerts for new forwarding rules and unusual sign-ins.
• Generic out-of-office messages.
• Screen locks required on mobile devices.
• An assigned owner who reviews access every quarter.

Small Changes, Big Protection

None of these steps requires a major technology overhaul. Most can be done within the email platform your brokerage already uses. Our cloud services team helps offices configure Microsoft 365 and similar platforms correctly, and our cybersecurity services add monitoring for suspicious activity.

Have a question about your office's shared mailbox? Get In Touch.

A home purchase is often the largest payment a person ever makes. Criminals know that. They also know exactly when it happens: in the final days before closing, when buyers are excited, stressed, and waiting for instructions.

Real estate wire fraud happens when someone tricks a buyer, agent, or title company into sending closing funds to a criminal's account. Once the money leaves, getting it back is difficult and sometimes impossible. Prevention has to happen before the wire, not after.

This guide walks through the steps brokerages, agents, and their clients can take to stop wire fraud before it starts.

How Real Estate Wire Fraud Usually Works

The pattern is surprisingly consistent:

1. An attacker gains access to an email account belonging to an agent, a transaction coordinator, a title officer, or sometimes the buyer.
2. They read the emails quietly and learn the deal's timeline, names, and amounts.
3. Just before closing, they send a message with "updated" wiring instructions. It often comes from the real account or from an address that looks nearly identical.
4. The buyer wires the down payment to the fraudulent account.

Because the attacker uses real details from the transaction, the message looks completely legitimate.

Step 1: Set Expectations at the First Meeting

The best time to talk about wire fraud is long before closing. At the start of the relationship, tell buyers clearly:

• "We will never send you wiring instructions by email alone."
• "We will never change wiring instructions during the transaction."
• "Before you send any money, call the title company at a number you find independently."

Put this in writing too. Many brokerages include a wire fraud warning in their listing agreements, buyer packets, and email signatures. Repetition helps the message stick when the buyer is under pressure.

Step 2: Verify by Phone Using a Known Number

This is the single most important step. Anyone sending money should confirm instructions by calling a phone number they already have from a trusted source, such as the title company's official website or a contract signed early in the deal.

Never use the phone number listed in the email that contains the wiring instructions. If the email is fake, the phone number will go straight to the criminal.

Step 3: Treat Any Change as a Red Flag

Legitimate title companies and closing attorneys rarely change their bank accounts mid-transaction. If a buyer receives new instructions, the default answer should be "stop and verify," no matter how official or urgent the message seems.

Step 4: Secure the Email Accounts Involved

Many wire fraud schemes start with a single compromised mailbox. Brokerages can reduce that risk by:

• Requiring multifactor authentication on every agent and staff email account.
• Turning on alerts for unusual sign-ins and new forwarding rules.
• Avoiding personal email accounts for transaction communication.
• Training agents to recognize fake login pages and suspicious attachments.

Out-of-office messages also tell criminals when an agent is unreachable. Here's why your vacation auto-reply might be a hacker's favorite email.

Step 5: Use a Secure Way to Share Instructions

Many title companies now deliver wiring instructions through secure portals or verification platforms instead of email. Agents can help by encouraging clients to use those tools and by never forwarding instructions themselves.

Step 6: Confirm Receipt After the Wire

Ask buyers to call the title company shortly after sending funds to confirm the money arrived. If something went wrong, finding out within hours rather than days greatly improves the chance of recovery.

What to Do If Fraud Happens

If a buyer thinks they wired money to the wrong account, every minute counts:

1. Call the sending bank immediately and request a wire recall.
2. File a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The FBI works with banks to try to freeze fraudulent transfers, and speed improves the odds.
3. Contact local law enforcement and the title company.
4. Preserve all emails involved in the transaction.
5. Review the brokerage's email accounts to determine whether an agent's mailbox was the source.

A Brokerage-Wide Wire Fraud Checklist

• Written wire fraud warning given to every buyer at the start.
• Verification-by-phone rule included in agent training.
• Multifactor authentication on all agent and staff email.
• Alerts for suspicious sign-ins and mailbox forwarding rules.
• No wiring instructions forwarded by agents.
• A documented response plan if fraud is suspected.

Protecting Clients Protects Your Reputation

A wire fraud loss is devastating for the buyer. It can also damage an agent's reputation and a brokerage's relationships for years. The good news is that a few consistent habits and solid email security stop most attempts.

For a wider look at how payment scams work, read about the scam that cost one company $60 million. Maise Technology helps real estate offices strengthen email security and cybersecurity protections so agents can focus on closing deals.

Ready to review how your brokerage handles transaction email? Schedule A 15 Minute Discovery Call.

The email looks routine. Opposing counsel's paralegal sends updated wiring instructions for a settlement payment. The signature block is right. The case number is right. The tone matches every other message in the thread.

The only thing wrong is the bank account. And by the time anyone notices, the money is gone.

This is business email compromise, often shortened to BEC. For law firms, it's one of the most expensive and embarrassing threats there is, because it targets the exact moment when large sums move on a client's behalf.

What Business Email Compromise Looks Like in a Legal Practice

BEC isn't usually a virus. It's a con. Attackers either break into a real email account or create a look-alike address that's one letter off. Then they wait for the right moment to insert themselves into a conversation about money.

In law firms, the most common targets are:

• Settlement disbursements where funds move to or from opposing counsel.
• Trust account transfers involving client funds.
• Real estate closings handled by the firm.
• Vendor payments such as court reporters, experts, or e-discovery providers.
• Client retainers where a fake message asks the client to pay into a new account.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) consistently ranks business email compromise among the costliest types of reported cybercrime.

Warning Signs Worth Pausing For

Most BEC attempts share a few patterns. None of them prove fraud on their own, but each one is a reason to slow down.

A change in payment instructions

This is the biggest red flag. Legitimate parties rarely change bank details in the middle of a matter. Any change should be treated as suspicious until confirmed by phone.

Urgency that discourages checking

"The court needs this today." "Our bank is closing the old account." Pressure is designed to make you skip verification.

A slightly different email address

Look closely. "smithlaw.com" can become "smith1aw.com" or "smithlaw-firm.com." On a phone screen, these are easy to miss.

Requests to keep things quiet

Messages that ask you not to copy a partner or to handle something "between us" deserve extra scrutiny.

Replies going somewhere unexpected

Attackers who control a mailbox sometimes create hidden rules that forward or delete messages. If clients say they never got your replies, investigate.

Building a Verification Habit That Actually Holds

Technology helps, but the strongest defense against BEC is a firm-wide rule that money doesn't move on email alone.

A practical verification procedure looks like this:

1. Collect wiring details early through a secure method, and record a verified phone number for the receiving party at the start of the matter.
2. Never use contact details from the email requesting payment. Call the number already on file.
3. Confirm any change in instructions by phone with someone you know, before funds move.
4. Require a second person to approve outgoing wires above a set amount.
5. Tell clients in writing that your firm will never change payment instructions by email.

That last step protects clients too. Attackers increasingly impersonate the law firm to trick clients into paying the wrong account.

Technical Controls That Reduce the Risk

Good habits work best with strong email security behind them. Key controls include:

• Multifactor authentication on every mailbox, so a stolen password isn't enough to log in.
• Email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) that make it harder for others to send mail pretending to be your domain.
• External sender warnings that flag messages coming from outside the firm.
• Alerts for new mailbox rules, especially forwarding to outside addresses.
• Look-alike domain monitoring to spot fake versions of your firm's name.

Out-of-office replies can also help criminals time their attacks. Our article on why your vacation auto-reply might be a hacker's favorite email explains why.

Professional Responsibility Considerations

Lawyers have duties around competence and safeguarding client property. ABA Model Rule 1.1 and its comments address technology competence, and Rule 1.15 governs safekeeping property. The ABA has also issued formal opinions on securing client communications. Requirements vary by state, so firms should check their own state bar's rules and guidance.

This isn't meant to alarm anyone. It's a reminder that wire fraud prevention isn't just an IT issue. It's part of protecting clients.

If a Wire Goes to the Wrong Account

Speed matters more than anything else.

• Call your bank immediately and ask them to recall the transfer.
• File a report at ic3.gov as quickly as possible.
• Preserve the emails and don't delete anything.
• Contact your cyber insurance carrier and legal counsel.
• Have the affected mailbox reviewed to find out how the attacker got in.

To see how one large scam unfolded, read the holiday scam that cost one company $60 million.

Protecting Your Firm Before the Next Settlement

Business email compromise succeeds when trust and routine meet a lack of verification. A clear process, strong email security, and staff who feel comfortable slowing down can stop most attempts.

Maise Technology helps law firms strengthen email and cybersecurity protections without adding friction to client service. When you're ready to review how your firm handles wires and mailbox security, Schedule A 15 Minute Discovery Call.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.