At long last, you’ve got a contract to sell your practice, and the closing date has finally arrived. You emailed wiring instructions to your broker weeks ago, so that the $1.5 million proceeds could be immediately transferred into your bank account. Then, something goes horribly wrong, and the proceeds never show up in your account. In a panic, you call the law firm which handled the closing, and they explain they wired the funds yesterday to the bank account provided by your broker. Your panic turns to horror when you discover the broker’s email account was hacked and an imposter delivered fraudulent wiring instructions.

You’ve become a victim of a massive wire transfer fraud! Even worse, wire transfers aren’t reversible in most cases. And seeking recovery from the broker or law firm is difficult, if not impossible, since they relied on the wiring instructions which supposedly came from you. How could this have happened, especially when you provided the correct wire instructions and never agreed to any change?