This is like the third case I can recall like this. Julia Marsh reports:
A former Lehman Brothers executive unwittingly wired a $2 million deposit for a $20 million Manhattan apartment to cyber criminals — and now he’s blaming his real estate attorney and her vulnerable AOL email address for the breach.
Robert Millard, who was a managing director at Lehman and now runs the private investment firm Realm Partners, and his wife Bethany Millard hired Long Island lawyer Patricia Doran to help them buy a co-op last year.
While in contract, Doran’s email was hacked and the cyber criminals intercepted communications about the purchase, according to the Millards’ Manhattan civil suit.
Posing as Doran the hackers sent the Millards wire transfer instructions to a bank that purportedly belonged to the seller. They wired $1.938 million to the TD Bank account.
Read more on NY Post.
If you’re buying a home or property, do NOT trust emails purporting to be from your broker instructing you to wire money. Call them to confirm before wiring any money!