Could fraud protection be another profit center for title and mortgage companies? The latest “State of Wire Fraud” report from CertifID indicates it could.
A leading fraud protection company in the real estate sector, CertifID’s 2026 report found that house sellers and their buyers not only demand that the companies they deal with protect them from wire fraud, but many will also pay for it.
Some are even willing to pay more than what it actually costs providers.
The company found that 85% are willing to pay more than the going rate for title services. More than seven out of ten would pay $50 or more; 43% would pay $101 or more. Just 14% said they would not ante up for anything additional.
“This is not reluctant acceptance but an active demand that represents a clear market opportunity for businesses willing to accept it,” the report said. “Even more telling, this willingness spans income levels and demographics.”
The report said real estate remains a prime target for criminals, and AI is accelerating the threat. Today’s attacks are no longer poorly written e-mails. Rather, they are contextually relevant and increasingly difficult to distinguish from the real thing, the report warns.
“Generative AI is compounding wire fraud threats and has fundamentally changed the fraud landscape,” it says. “Criminals now have access to tools that can craft convincing e-mails, clone voices, and even deepfake videos, all at scale and at minimal cost.
Last year, CertifID’s recovery unit discovered three primary categories of fraud:
- Buyer cash-to-close – Still the most common type of fraud, representing 30% of all cases, criminals impersonate title firms or realty companies, sending false wire instructions, usually to inexperienced first-time buyers.
- Mortgage payoff – The most damaging type of fraud, thieves intercept or forge payoff statements and redirect funds to fake accounts.
- Seller net proceeds theft – Scam artists impersonate sellers and redirect proceeds from a false sale to their own accounts.
On a positive note, the study found that most consumers – 82% – are aware of the problem. But at the same time, they are demanding that they be protected. “Awareness has reached a tipping point,” according to the report, “and expectations have shifted accordingly.”
The fear of being ensnared in wire fraud is compounding what is already an anxiety-filled transaction. It “is not irrational but a logical response to a genuine threat,” the report says.
Asked what builds their trust. 44% of the consumers polled said insurance coverage, 36% said mandatory verifications, 29% said a verified platform, 28% said regular security updates, and 24% said secure portals. Only 14% said proactive education.
While recovery is possible – CertifID has a 69% recovery rate through March, the company said; the FBI, 66% – recovery alone is not much of a business strategy. Especially for those who cannot be helped.
The reputational damage alone “is permanent,” the report maintains, noting that more than half the consumers it polled are unlikely to work with a company again after a fraud incident.
The better answer is prevention, the report advises. “When you prevent fraud from occurring in the first place, you protect the funds and your reputation.”
Again using its own data to make the point, the company says it completed and verified more than 1.48 million wire transfers last year, blocking 1.018 of them as possible fraud and protecting $283 million in potential losses.
In each case, it added, a family did not lose its down payment, a seller received his proceeds, and a business did not have to try to explain the catastrophe.
With the threat of fraud escalating at a fever pitch – it’s up 1,750% year-over-year – fraud prevention is “now a must-have,” the report concludes. “Prevention has crossed from ‘nice-to-have’. And the businesses which recognize that “will thrive” while those that do not “will face increasingly serious consequences.”
