Closing day moves a lot of money, and email is the easiest place to steal it. This page covers the scam, a simple phone check that stops it, what to do fast if it happens anyway, and what Georgia law says about the money a closing attorney can pay out. It gives no wiring instructions; only your closing attorney’s office can.
How the scam works
The CFPB warns that days before closing, scammers email buyers posing as their agent with last-minute changes to wiring instructions, and stolen funds can be very hard to recover. (CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19)
The email can look exactly like your agent’s or the attorney’s office, down to the signature and the thread. The tell is the message itself: new account details, urgency, and a request not to call.
The verify-by-phone protocol
The CFPB's advice
- The CFPB advises writing down contact information for two trusted people, such as your real estate and settlement agents, who can confirm payment details. CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
- The CFPB says not to use phone numbers or links from an email, and to confirm with your trusted contacts using only the numbers you saved. CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
- Early in the deal, write down the phone numbers for your agent and the closing attorney’s office from a source you trust, such as your contract, the firm’s own website or a first call you placed yourself.
- Ask the closing attorney’s office how it will send funding instructions, and whether it would ever change them by email. Write down the answer.
- Treat any change in instructions, however official it looks, as a warning sign.
- Before you send anything, call the attorney’s office at the number you saved and confirm the instructions by voice.
- After you send it, call again to confirm the money arrived.
- Never send account numbers or wire details by email or through a web form, including ours.
The first hour if money went to the wrong place
If you are a victim, the CFPB says to contact your bank or wire-transfer company immediately and file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. (CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19)
- Call your bank or wire-transfer company right away and ask it to stop or reverse the transfer.
- File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
- Call your closing attorney’s office at the number you saved, so it can watch for the funds and protect the closing.
- Keep every email and text as they are. Do not reply to the scammer.
Speed matters more than anything else on this list. See the CFPB’s one-page mortgage closing scams handout.
What Georgia’s good funds law says
The scope of the law
- Georgia's good-funds law applies to purchase and refinance loans secured by Georgia real estate with no more than four residential units. O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19
- Georgia's good-funds law defines the 'settlement agent' as the lender or an active member of the State Bar of Georgia responsible for conducting the settlement and paying out the proceeds. O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19
Under Georgia's good-funds law, a settlement agent generally may not pay out closing proceeds unless the money is 'collected funds' in the agent's escrow account. (O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19)
Collected funds means money that has been deposited, finally settled and credited to the settlement agent’s escrow account. The statute then lists exceptions:
The exceptions
- Exceptions to the collected-funds rule include certain cashier's checks from federally insured institutions, attorney or broker escrow checks, and government checks. O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19
- Georgia's good-funds law lets the settlement agent disburse against ordinary checks only up to $5,000 in total per loan closing. O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19
Read the cashier’s check exception closely: it is about a cashier’s check from a federally insured institution issued by a lender for the closing. It does not say that any cashier’s check you buy will do. Ordinary checks are capped in total per closing.
A party violating the good-funds law is liable for actual damages and attorneys' fees plus the greater of $1,000 or double 60 days' interest. (O.C.G.A. 44-14-13 (2025 Georgia Code), via Justia, checked 2026-10-19)
The law versus your attorney’s instructions
The statute sets the floor for what a settlement agent may pay out against. It does not name wires, and it does not say you must wire. Each closing office then adds its own policy on top, which may call for a wire for larger amounts. So the answer to “how do I pay?” is the same every time: ask your closing attorney which forms of payment they accept, get it in writing, and confirm any wiring instructions by phone at a number you already have.
| Question | What the statute covers | What your closing office decides |
|---|---|---|
| Can the agent pay out before funds clear? | Generally no, apart from the listed exceptions | How early funds must arrive |
| Is a personal check OK? | Only within the total cap per loan closing | Whether it takes personal checks at all |
| Is a wire required? | Not named in the statute | Often yes, by firm policy |
Earnest money
Broker trust account rules
- Georgia Real Estate Commission rules require a broker holding cash or checks to deposit them promptly in a federally insured trust account registered with the Commission, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 520-1-.08 (Georgia Real Estate Commission, Managing Trust Accounts and Trust Funds), via Cornell LII, checked 2026-10-19
- Under GREC rules, all refunds of earnest money must be paid by check or credited at closing. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 520-1-.08 (Georgia Real Estate Commission, Managing Trust Accounts and Trust Funds), via Cornell LII, checked 2026-10-19
Your purchase contract says who holds the earnest money. Whoever it is, confirm their payment instructions by phone the same way.
For what to bring on the day, see what to bring to closing.
Questions buyers ask
How do I verify wiring instructions for closing?
Do not use phone numbers or links from an email. Call your closing attorney's office or agent using only a phone number you saved earlier, and confirm the details by voice before you send money.
Source: CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF)
What do I do if I wired closing money to a scammer?
Act at once. Contact your bank or wire-transfer company immediately to try to stop or reverse the transfer, and file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Source: CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF)
Can I bring a personal check to a Georgia closing?
Only for small amounts, and only if your closing office takes them. Georgia's good funds law lets the settlement agent pay out against ordinary checks only up to $5,000 in total per loan closing.
Is any cashier's check accepted at closing?
Not necessarily. The good funds exception covers certain cashier's checks from federally insured institutions issued by a lender for the closing. Ask your closing attorney which forms of payment they accept.
Before you rely on this
This page is education, not legal advice. Dahlonega Closing Guide is published by Gold Peach Realty, a real estate brokerage, not a law firm. For advice about your own contract, title or taxes, ask a Georgia attorney or a tax professional.
Education, not legal advice. Statutes, fees and forms change; every rule on this page links to the law or office that sets it. Your closing attorney and your contract decide what applies to your closing.
