Why this matters
If you're a real estate agent, title company, or closing attorney, you share wiring instructions regularly. The way you share them determines whether your clients' closing funds are protected — or exposed.
Email vs. Secure Channel for Wiring Instructions
Email delivery
- Instructions travel in plain text through multiple servers
- Stored indefinitely in both parties' inboxes
- Vulnerable to interception and spoofing attacks
- Forwarded to other parties without your control
- No notification if instructions were accessed by an unauthorized party
- No way to revoke or update without sending another email
Garded secure link
- Instructions encrypted with AES-256 — unreadable if intercepted
- Accessible only through the specific encrypted link you send
- Link is temporary and revocable at any time
- Access log shows exactly when the link was opened
- Recipient verification before instructions are displayed
- Update or revoke without another email chain
The Standard Practice Is the Problem
Emailing wiring instructions is standard practice in real estate. It's also the primary vector for the industry's most costly fraud. The two facts are directly related.
The reason email became the default is convenience — it's fast, familiar, and works without any special setup. The reason wire fraud is so common is exactly the same: it's convenient for fraudsters, who know that most transactions follow the same email-based pattern and that most buyers don't verify independently.
Changing this pattern requires only one thing: using a secure channel to deliver wiring instructions instead of email. The buyer experience doesn't change. The fraud surface disappears.
Verification steps for escrow transfers
- Never wire escrow funds without a direct verbal confirmation from the escrow officer
- Confirm the escrow company's wire instructions match their published bank information
- If instructions change at any point, treat it as a potential fraud attempt until proven otherwise
Your Clients Deserve Better Than an Email With Account Numbers
Use Garded for every set of wiring instructions, on every transaction. Free to start.
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