Sean O’Shea reports that when a realtor’s gmail account was hacked, it cost a home purchaser $10,000 – $10,000 that the agent and her realty firm won’t compensate.
The young home buyer, Kaitlyn DiMarco, says that after she purchased a home, she received an email – purportedly from her realtor – telling her that it would cost $10,000 more for title insurance, and asking her to wire the money. She did.
But the email wasn’t really from Tina Goldrick of RE/MAX Twin City Realty. Her gmail account had been hacked.
DiMarco became suspicious when she received a second request a few days later for another $42,000.
So: the agent apparently failed to properly secure her gmail account and her clients’ personal and financial information is in the hands of criminals who used it to steal $10,000 from her. That’s bad enough, but the agent and RE/MAX say they are not responsible for reimbursing the young woman who became a victim of the agent’s infosecurity failure.
DataBreaches.net says that the agent and/or RE/MAX should reimburse the homebuyer, whether their insurance covers it or not.
And in the meantime, they should get some very bad press over this.
The victims should ask the police to make the Realtor prove they were not in on the scam. If I leave a weapon lying around unsecured and someone uses it in a crime, it is partially my fault. This is no different.