A recent Epoch Times report by Autumn Spredemann highlights a warning for anyone buying a home:

Artificial intelligence is giving scammers powerful new ways to steal closing funds. Deepfake audio and fabricated documents have become convincing enough that real estate, title, and mortgage professionals are reconsidering how they confirm the identity of everyone in a transaction.

The numbers are significant. According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report:

Real estate fraud losses topped $275 million, a sharp rise from about $173 million in 2024.
The FBI logged over 22,000 complaints tied to AI-related fraud, with losses above $893 million.

Florida readers should take particular note:

A CertifID report ranked Nevada and Florida as the two states at highest risk for real estate wire fraud last year.

The old warning signs no longer work. Clumsy emails full of typos used to give scammers away, but legal experts say those red flags have largely disappeared as AI has turned what was once a manual con into an industrialized operation. A common pattern now involves layered impersonation, where a spoofed email is followed by a phone call in a cloned voice that sounds like someone the buyer knows and trusts.

Deepfake detection specialists report that a convincing voice match can be built from just a few seconds of audio, and a single photo can power a live face swap. Criminals are also posing as sellers. Brokers have encountered fraudsters who submitted ID and legal documents that looked credible but turned out to be AI-generated. Vacant and investment properties are a favorite target.

Timing matters too. The stretch between signing the contract and funding is the most vulnerable period, since payment instructions circulate by email and the parties aren’t meeting face to face. And once money is gone, getting it back is difficult; recovery becomes harder with each day the funds sit in a criminal-controlled “mule account.”

How to Protect Yourself

Industry professionals offer practical advice:

Treat any change to wiring instructions with suspicion. Some attorneys recommend considering last-minute changes fraudulent until proven otherwise, since legitimate title companies rarely make them.
No single email, text, or call proves new instructions are real, so confirm payment details with a trusted contact using information you found independently, not a phone number provided in the message itself.
Slow down. Closings are stressful and rushed, and that pressure is exactly what scammers exploit. A quick verification call to a number you already know can protect your life savings.

Read the full article at The Epoch Times.