Seven Safe Emailing Habits Everyone (Especially Real Estate Agents) Should Follow
Using email is a necessity for every real estate agent. It’s an extremely easy and quick way to communicate, transfer documents, secure a business deal, or even share photos of your cat.
However, using email doesn’t come without risks, especially for those of us who deal with high-dollar financial transactions. Hackers, phishing attempts, and scams make email a treacherous territory if you’re not knowledgeable about how to safely use it!
Here are some tips from your friends at Hogan Land Title on how to safely monitor and use email, especially ones that relate to property sale transactions.
Keep the door shut when you don’t know who’s knocking. Stay away from emails sent by people you don’t know or trust. Always listen to your gut when using the internet! If it seems sketchy, it probably is. Report the message as spam, delete it, and move on. Also, look for emails that appear to be reputable but are not. Hackers can copy a signature block from an actual agent, escrow officer, or lender, making a fraudulent email appear credible.
Be sensitive with your sensitive information. When you press the “send” button, you no longer have control over what is done with the information you sent in the email. Sensitive information such as passwords, bank account information, or your social security number should never be sent via email. Realtors, lenders, and escrow agents will never ask for this information via email.
Don’t get attached to attachments. Viruses are often disguised as attachments in emails. These can not only compromise your information, but seriously damage your computer! If you don’t know who sent the email or weren’t expecting the attachment, banish the email to your spam folder and throw away the key!
Use a spam filter. Spam filters help automatically disregard potentially harmful emails. Depending on the software, spam filters can delete junk emails and block viruses that track your system information.
Lock down your password and change it often. Jo O’Reilly, deputy editor at ProPrivacy.com says, “Experts recommend that people should try to update their passwords at least every three months. This ensures that if a password is compromised, the time that a cybercriminal remains inside the hacked account is relatively short.” Remember, when creating a password, it’s best practice to use nothing shorter than 15 characters, and to mix upper-case, lower-case, numbers and symbols.
Don’t take the bait on phishing. Messages that contain threats to shut down your account, wire funds, request personal information, or have poor grammar are all red flags of a phishing attempt. Title companies specifically will never ask you to wire funds ahead of the closing.
It never hurts to double check. If you’re ever uncertain about an email, especially when dealing with a business, it’s always acceptable to call and verify the email with the sender. Real estate agents, lenders, and title companies are happy to speak with you and verify whether an email is legitimate or not.
At Hogan Land Title, we will NEVER ask for your personal information, money, or have confidential discussions with our clients via email.
We encourage you to always check the sender’s information closely, and again, encourage you to call one of our offices to speak with us directly should you have any suspicions that an email from us is fraudulent.
Here’s to a happy and safe e-life!