Real estate agencies have been urged to consider a zero tolerance policy to Facebook and internet-based email accounts after cyber criminals targeted an office in Western Australia.
WA Consumer Protection has confirmed the hackers stole $50,000 from a Broome real estate agency after they hacked into the company’s online banking system in February.
Mandy Reed, general manager at Hutchinson Real Estate, told Real Estate Business the cyber fraudsters most likely accessed the company bank account after a compromised email allowed malicious software (or malware) to be installed.
"We got done alright,” said Ms Reed. “We were doing a reconciliation of one of our bank accounts when we realised the money that was supposed to come into it never arrived. So we looked into it because it came from a trust account. We rang the bank and found out it had been directed to a bank account in western Sydney.".
Security experts advise “Staff should be trained to ensure that suspicious emails are deleted immediately, attachments are never opened and links never activated. Having up-to-date anti-virus and anti-malware software is essential for any business. Real estate and settlement agents should manually input bank account details of clients when making electronic bank payments, rather than relying on the accuracy of details in pre-entered lists.”
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