Information Security and Wire Transfer Fraud are critical topics for the land title insurance and settlement industry. Wire Transfer Fraud is a threat to every title operation regardless of size, location or years in business. ALTA’s priority is helping you protect your systems, plan for a rapid response in case of an incident, and prepare your employees, clients and customers to be aware and vigilant.

The ALTA Board has identified information security and wire transfer fraud as a Strategic Priority and staff are working to educate members on security threats to their businesses in both cyber and physical environments, collaborate with coalition partners to raise consumer awareness about information security and wire transfer fraud, and promote best practices for protecting personal funds and information and seek policy change that will protect consumers.

Do You . . .

  • work in the land title insurance industry?
  • use a computer, tablet or smartphone?
  • talk and email with vendors, clients, customers and consumers?

ALTA Helps You

Tools You Can Use

Get The Facts

  • FBI Public Service Announcement (I-050417-PSA). 10-minute read. The PSA, dated May 2017, describes Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Email Account Compromise (EAC) schemes and how they lead to wire fraud.
  • 2017 Internet Crime Report. Published by the FBI's Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3). Take 30 minutes to read this report and discover the trends in cyber crime, which impact more than 200,000 victims every year and result in losses topping $1 billion.

Establish and Maintain Operational Readiness

    • Federal Requirements. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB): This regulation requires financial institutions—companies that offer consumers financial products or services like loans, financial or investment advice, or insurance—to explain their information-sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard sensitive data. These companies include title and settlement companies, as well as law firms.
    • State Requirements. Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have enacted legislation requiring private, governmental or educational entities to notify individuals of security breaches of information involving personally identifiable information.
    • ALTA Best Practices. The third pillar of ALTA’s “Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices” provides procedures that should be taken to protect non-public personal information (NPI).
    • ALTA Rapid Response Plan for Wire Fraud Incidents: The standard ALTA Rapid Response Plan for Wire Fraud Incidents has been developed by the ALTA Information Security Committee. Download and customize:

Promote Employee Awareness and Preparation

Title and settlement professionals are on the front line in the battle against wire transfer fraud. Use these tools to help prepare your employees:

Be a Leader for Clients & Consumers

ALTA has developed tools to help you educate consumers about the dangers of wire fraud.

  • ALTA Wire Fraud Video: This 2-minute video provides four tips on how consumers can protect their money and offers advice on what to do if they have been targeted by a scam. Link to this video from your website, include in your email or share on social media.
  • ALTA Wire Fraud Infographic: ALTA has produced this Rack Card explaining Wire Fraud. ALTA Members can brand the infographic with their own information at the ALTAprints website.
  • ALTA Wire Fraud PowerPoint for Consumer Education: (Member-only content) Use this presentation to educate consumers about the dangers of phishing emails and wire transfer fraud. The presentation provides information on what to do if you’ve fallen victim to a scam and also highlights 10 tips to prevent wire fraud.

More Resources - Publications and Other Websites

ALTA Member-to-Member Free Resources

ALTA’s Information Security Committee

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

Resources

InfoSec Advisory Bulletin Archive
ALTA’s Information Security Committee produces the quarterly InfoSec Advisory Bulletin to inform membership on various cyber-related topics to enhance awareness, prevention, detection and response/recovery methods for the industry.

Information Security News from ALTA

Federal Trade Commission

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)

Federal Bureau of Investigation

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

Webinars


Information Security Articles

Recent 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Closepin Releases New Wire Instructions Verification Tool
March 19, 2019
In addition to providing lenders an automated compliance and risk management program for their closing agent network, Closepin said its solution now verifies wire instructions on the same insured platform.
ALTA Urges Congress to Develop Uniform Rules on Data Protection, Collection
March 18, 2019
ALTA urges Congress to develop national, uniform rules to guide businesses about how to protect data and to ensure consumers are notified of breaches in a timely and consistent manner.
Secret Service: San Antonio Elderly Couple Wired More Than $1 Million to Foreign Scammers
San Antonio Express-News  |  March 7, 2019
An elderly couple in San Antonio unknowingly wired more than $1 million to foreign scammers while trying to buy a house last year, federal law enforcement officials said Thursday. The San Antonio couple was among more than 2 million victims aged 60 or older targeted by elder fraud schemes in 2018. ALTA has created ALL NEW Innovation Boot Camps for 2019 to help you protect your business from wire fraud scammers and hackers. Don't let wire fraud keep you up at night: Come to Boot Camp, April 16-17 in Raleigh, NC. Click here to register.
FTC Seeks Comment on Proposed Amendments to Safeguards and Privacy Rules
March 7, 2019
Proposed changes to the Safeguards Rule would require financial institutions to encrypt all customer data, to implement access controls to prevent unauthorized users from accessing customer information and to use multifactor authentication to access customer data.
Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait
Federal Trade Commission  |  March 6, 2019  |  Colleen Tressler
The Federal Trade Commission has developed a new infographic offering tips to help recognize, avoid and report phishing scams. These schemes often lead to wire fraud. ALTA has produced a short video and an infographic to help raise awareness about wire fraud, as well as a downloadable 10-step guide on what to do if you've been hit by wire fraud. Click here to access the resources. In addition, the ALTA Registry can serve as an effective countermeasure to wire fraud. Make sure your company is confirmed.