We launched Qualia Shield towards the end of 2023 with the goal of helping our customers protect their clients and operations against ever prevalent wire fraud threats. With today’s announcement, Qualia Shield now offers even greater protection against wire fraud, thanks to new features coming in the first half of 2025 and the addition of $1 million in insurance coverage for eligible wire transfers, available today.
The threat of wire fraud isn’t going away
A survey we recently conducted showed that over 60% of title & escrow professionals said their business had been a target of wire fraud within the past year, with 95% of respondents saying the frequency of attacks had either increased or stayed the same.
Fraud is becoming more complex and multi-layered: Between social engineering, phishing, ransomware, seller impersonation fraud, deepfakes, and more, it’s hard for title & escrow companies to keep up. In response to these challenges, Qualia is here to help title & escrow professionals evolve their fraud mitigation strategy with a multi-pronged and continuously-evolving approach.
Since the initial launch, we’ve introduced identity verification, the ability for title & escrow companies to assess seller proceeds and payoff wire instructions for fraud risk, and more. Today we’re proud to announce new enhancements to Shield coming in 2025 that will go even further to protect against wire fraud including: public records checks that don’t require client involvement, insurance on eligible wire transfers, and a new email plug-in that shows title companies when an email appears to be suspicious.
Get peace of mind from wire fraud threats
While wire fraud can be more readily mitigated when you’re working with a tech-savvy or eager client, that’s not always the case. Not all sellers are willing or able to use a secure portal to transmit sensitive information–especially the fraudsters. That’s why it’s important to use technology that gives you the ability to quickly analyze extensive public records to confirm you’re working with a legitimate person.
Coming in the first half of 2025, Qualia Shield will allow you to quickly look up sellers using only a few pieces of information such as a phone number, name, or email address. By checking an individual’s digital footprint across various datasets, you can rest easy knowing that the seller you’re working with is indeed who they say they are–and without requiring their involvement.
We’re also excited to announce that Shield now includes $1 million in insurance coverage for eligible wire transfers.* Based on feedback from customers, our team invested significant time and effort in order to secure this insurance policy with our broker, Lloyd’s of London.
*Eligible wires have been reviewed in Qualia Shield and assessed as “low risk.” Additional terms and conditions apply and are available upon request.
“The increase in seller impersonation fraud and evolving fraud tactics has been alarming, but Shield has equipped us with the tools to stay ahead. It gives us peace of mind to know that we have proactive defense mechanisms to detect bad actors and prevent fraud before it can impact our transactions.”
Christine White, Assistant Director of Operations, KVS Title, LLC
Reduce entry points for fraud
We’ve also seen a significant increase in email phishing attacks across all industries, with a reported 4,151% surge in malicious messages since the launch of ChatGPT. Coming in the first half of 2025, Shield’s new Email Link feature is designed to address phishing threats. This feature, available with Gmail and Outlook, alerts title & escrow professionals to suspicious emails, offering an additional safeguard before any wire is disbursed. This is an industry-first email plug-in of its kind: Email Link looks at contact information from your system of record, compares it to the sender in your email inbox, and tells you when an email sender is not known.
While we strongly encourage the use of secure portals to mitigate wire fraud attempts, it’s not always convenient for consumers and their agents to completely avoid the channel of email communication.
“The recent spike in phishing attempts has raised our alert levels. Thanks to Qualia, we now have an extra layer of protection. It’s reassuring to know Shield Email Link will flag unknown senders and help us maintain secure email communication channels.”
Ashley Spicer, Director of IT and Logistics, Infinity Title Agency
Taking it a step further: improving employee workflows
Finally, we’re excited to unveil the newly redesigned Shield Hub, a streamlined interface where you can effortlessly review all critical information related to wire instructions and identities. This all-in-one hub not only makes your workflow more efficient but also enhances security by notifying you if you’ve previously used specific wire instructions. This intuitive design ensures that you have everything you need at your fingertips, reducing the risk of error and improving your team’s response time.
Transparency and accountability are key to maintaining the integrity of your transactions, which is why we’re excited to introduce the Activity Log feature. Coming in 2025, this comprehensive log allows you to view the entire history of a set of wire instructions. Team members can review and acknowledge the risk assessment findings within the Shield Hub, ensuring everyone is on the same page and every step is documented.
Conclusion
Finding the right wire fraud mitigation tools can make or break any title & escrow organization. When we began building products for the real estate industry ten years ago, security was immediately a crucial part of Qualia’s DNA. Qualia supports safe closings in the real estate industry by building products that connect all transaction parties on a secure and unified digital closing platform.
Fraudsters are leveraging the latest technology. You should be too. Click below to learn more about how Qualia Shield benefits real title & escrow companies.
