Wire fraud losses tied to real estate transactions hit hundreds of millions of dollars last year, and roughly four out of five title and escrow firms report being targeted by a fraud attempt in the past twelve months. A real estate transaction platform sits at the exact intersection attackers want — personal financial data, high-dollar wire transfers, and multiple parties (agents, lenders, title companies, buyers) who don't always share the same security discipline. This checklist gives platform owners and brokerage tech leads a structured way to check their exposure.

Who this is for: real estate brokerages, title/escrow companies, and proptech teams building or evaluating a transaction, closing, or document management platform.

Before You Start

  • [ ] Map every party with access to transaction data: agents, buyers, sellers, lenders, title companies, attorneys, and any third-party integration.
  • [ ] Identify where wire instructions and financial details are currently exchanged — email-based exchange is the single biggest wire fraud vector in real estate.
  • [ ] Classify data by sensitivity: PII, financial account details, signed contracts, and closing documents each warrant different handling.

Wire Fraud Prevention

  • [ ] Confirm wire instructions are submitted and verified through an authenticated in-platform workflow, never plain email.
  • [ ] Require out-of-band verification (a phone call to a known, pre-verified number) before any wire instruction change is honored.
  • [ ] Use a wire verification service or built-in identity verification to confirm all parties before funds move.
  • [ ] Train every staff member who touches closings to recognize business email compromise (BEC) attempts — this remains the most common entry point.

Platform Security Controls

  • [ ] Encrypt sensitive data both at rest and in transit across the platform, including documents stored for closing.
  • [ ] Enforce multi-factor authentication for every account with access to transaction data — agents, admin staff, and any external party granted platform access.
  • [ ] Implement email authentication protocols (DMARC, SPF, DKIM) to reduce spoofing and mailbox hardening risk.
  • [ ] Apply role-based access control so each party sees only the data relevant to their transaction, not the full client database.
  • [ ] Log and audit access to sensitive documents and wire-related actions, with alerts on unusual access patterns.

Vendor and Integration Vetting

  • [ ] Request evidence of SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 certification from any technology vendor touching transaction data.
  • [ ] Review every third-party integration (e-signature, MLS feed, payment processing, CRM) for its own security posture, not just the core platform.
  • [ ] Confirm data-sharing agreements clearly assign liability if a vendor-side breach exposes client data.
  • [ ] Reassess vendor access annually — dormant integrations with live credentials are a common, overlooked risk.

Compliance Requirements

  • [ ] Confirm the platform meets applicable state real estate data privacy requirements, which vary significantly by jurisdiction.
  • [ ] Verify retention and disposal policies for closing documents match legal requirements for your state or region.
  • [ ] Document a breach notification process and confirm it meets required timelines before an incident, not during one.
  • [ ] If handling mortgage-related data, confirm alignment with relevant federal financial privacy requirements (e.g., GLBA where applicable).

Incident Response Readiness

  • [ ] Maintain a documented incident response plan specific to wire fraud and data breach scenarios.
  • [ ] Identify who has authority to freeze a pending wire transaction if fraud is suspected, and make sure that authority is exercised without delay.
  • [ ] Run a tabletop exercise with staff at least annually so the response plan isn't being read for the first time during a real incident.

Red Flags to Watch For

Wire instructions still exchanged over plain email, no MFA requirement for agent or staff accounts, vendors who can't produce a current SOC 2 report, and no documented process for verifying a last-minute change to wire instructions are the gaps fraud actors exploit most often — and the ones that show up repeatedly in real estate wire fraud cases.

How to Use This Checklist

Prioritize wire fraud prevention and MFA first — these close the two most common and costly attack paths. Vendor vetting and compliance documentation matter just as much long-term, but they're less likely to cause an immediate financial loss if temporarily behind.