One in five buyers gets a suspicious message before closing, CertifID survey finds

The 2026 State of Wire Fraud report surveyed more than 1,400 consumers and real estate professionals. Its sharpest finding is not the attack rate. It is that 56% of consumers would not use the same firm again.

Key points

CertifID's 2026 report surveyed more than 1,400 consumers and real estate professionals.

Roughly one in four parties to a transaction is targeted, and about one in twenty becomes a victim.

ALTA's coverage on 28 April 2026 reported that one in five homebuyers receives suspicious or fraudulent communication during closing.

56% of consumers said they would not work with a title or real estate firm again after a wire fraud incident.

CertifID sells wire fraud prevention, so the survey is directional rather than neutral.

The number in CertifID's 2026 State of Wire Fraud report that should change a coordinator's process is not the attack rate. It is the aftermath: 56% of consumers said they would not work with a title or real estate firm again following a wire fraud incident. Whatever the recovery rate on the money, the relationship does not come back.

The report is built on a survey of more than 1,400 consumers and real estate professionals. It puts the share of transaction parties who are targeted at roughly one in four, and the share who become victims at about one in twenty. In its coverage on 28 April 2026, the American Land Title Association reported the finding that one in five homebuyers receives suspicious or fraudulent communication during closing.

What the survey reports

Respondents: 1,400+ (Consumers and real estate professionals)

Parties targeted: About 1 in 4

Parties victimised: About 1 in 20

Would not use the firm again: 56% (Consumers, following a wire fraud incident)

Read it as directional

CertifID sells wire fraud prevention. That does not make the survey wrong, and the company has been consistent about its methodology, but it does mean the report is a marketing artefact as well as a research one. Respondents to a wire fraud survey are more likely to have a wire fraud story. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center is the number to place beside it before republishing anything.

Why the reputational finding is the operational one

Most closing-security guidance is written as loss prevention: verify the instruction, protect the funds. The 56% figure reframes it as client retention. A coordinator who sends the fraud warning early, verifies by phone, and documents the verification is not only protecting a wire. They are protecting the referral chain that the agent, the brokerage and the title firm all live on.

The money is sometimes recoverable. The client's willingness to send you the next file is not.
TC Bulletin, Editorial position

Primary sources for this story

CertifID State of Wire Fraud report 2026 edition

ALTA news coverage Published 28 April 2026

Coalition to Stop Real Estate Wire Fraud Consumer-facing campaign run by ALTA

Sources cited

CertifID

ALTA