Sending Attachments or Links? Call!

With the proliferation of scams, spoofed email messages and general mayhem in the online world, it is critically important that you use a little person-to-person communication when sending documents, especially for the first time.  Give the listing broker a call or text and let him/her know that an offer is on the way, call and tell the paralegal that you’re sending a contract for attorney review, contact the buyer’s agent that the signed agreement is coming via email.  All those protections help everyone stay safe and secure.  If you receive a document you didn’t expect – don’t open it until you confirm you should.  Attorney Mike Shepard cited a specific example – he received a docu-sign email link asking for him to check out the contract for xx Main Street.  Mike didn’t know of a client with that address, no one had contacted him and he was reluctant to open the link without some verification.  His instinct proved right. When checking the MLS, and then google, the property address wasn’t real even thought the spoof email looked pretty legit.  Do everyone a favor and use person to person confirmations to communicate about documents.  Your clients will thank you (well, no they won’t, but they won’t get hacked and that’s just as sweet)