McManamy Jackson, PC, a law firm specializing in residential and commercial real estate transactions with offices in Savannah and Rincon, Ga. recently launched MJ Live, a secure portal to protect clients’ real estate transactions from cyber crime, as part of the firm’s new website roll out.

According to the FBI’s annual Internet Crime Report, Americans lost more than $50 million to real estate scams in 2018, up 1,000 percent since 2015. “Wire fraud, email hacking, phishing scams, and other various digital attacks on the real estate industry are on the rise,” said McManamy Jackson Partner Stephen Jackson. “For us, the portal is a non-negotiable in doing business in today’s digitally-compromised world."

“Unlike other industries that share sensitive financial information, no laws require real estate businesses to implement information security programs which put the real estate industry in the crosshairs of criminals and bad actors,” continued Jackson.

With the addition of MJ Live’s secure file and information sharing platform, McManamy Jackson has invested in the latest, cutting-edge technology to better protect clients’ data and financial information.

“Whether you’re a buyer, seller, agent, lender or any other party included in a real estate transaction involving our firm, we want you to know we are doing everything we can to ensure our closing transactions are protected,” said McManamy Jackson Partner Douglas P. McManamy. “It’s not enough to naively think it won’t happen. The threat is real and we have to be vigilant and hope our clients and community as a whole will adopt this same mindset.”

Common real estate industry scams include misdirecting wire transfers by compromising a business email. In this situation, cyber criminals pretend to be a business counterpart and direct wire funds to criminal bank accounts. Bad actors can also hold computer systems hostage, also known as Ransomware or a malware that encrypts a business’s computer data, holding the info hostage until a ransom is paid.

“Buying a home is a reason to celebrate and we want to keep it that way,” said McManamy. “The MJ Live portal is a huge step in doing just that - especially for buyers and sellers who typically do not have access to secure email or advanced security measures like many businesses.”

MJ Live portal benefits include:

Detailed information regarding your real estate transaction such as closing date, time and contact information.

Secure email message exchange for sensitive data such as banking information, social security numbers and other Non-Public Private Information“NPPI.”

Closing task updates allow clients to stay informed of the file status from start to finish in real time.

Secure document storage giving you the ability to send and receive important documents for closing and have access to them 24/7.

For clients who close multiple transactions with our firm, all of your closing information will be accessible through the portal making it truly a one stop shop. A great tool for real estate agents and lenders.