When Google changed its sign-in screen, some users panicked. Although Google’s change was legitimate, these tech-savvy users were right to be cautious: When a well-known website suddenly changes its appearance without warning, it’s often a possible sign of a spear phishing attack.

What Is Phishing, Anyway?

Simply put, phishing attacks are scams that involve a person posing as someone you would trust, in the hopes that you’ll hand over valuable information such as usernames, passwords, or even banking or credit card account numbers. The result: identity and financial theft.

Cybercriminals have stolen $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency in the first half of 2018 alone using sophisticated tactics and complex processes to fool even the most cautious crypto users. In fact, Fortune recently reported a major cryptocurrency scam in which hackers infiltrated the company behind the ICO (initial coin offering) of EOS – a blockchain-based system for developing decentralized apps.

Microsoft recently reported that tech support scams are up 24 percent since last year. The tech giant received 153,000 reports of customers encountering or falling for a fraud attempt, with 1 in 10 actually losing money from those scams. Microsoft customers paid an estimated $3 to $6 million to criminals – all because they didn’t know how to spot a hoax.

While phishing scams aren’t new, the threat is growing in the real estate industry. Unsuspecting homebuyers are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to these types of scams.

Here’s how it works:

1. A hacker breaks into your real estate agent’s email, or the servers of a title company, and begins tracking transactions.
2. Knowing the closing date, the hacker sends an email to you that looks like it came from your real estate agent or the title company.
3. The email contains wiring instructions that, if followed, place your funds straight into the fraudster’s bank account.

Once your funds are deposited into a criminal’s account, it’s virtually impossible to recover the money. All it takes is falling for one bogus email.