The Safety Series: How to Educate Clients About Real Estate Scams

Cybercrime, including phishing scams, fake online property schemes and wire fraud, is a major threat to the real estate industry. Yet most consumers say real estate professionals are not educating them enough about the risks, according to recent data. You need to have conversations with your clients about cybersecurity, set expectations for how you will operate and create a plan of action in case you encounter something suspicious, like a potentially fake email. What’s the best way to approach these conversations, and what should your talking points be? Host Tracey Hawkins explores the safety practices that can help you and your clients with two real estate pros who have dealt with cyber threats in their transactions. And don’t miss the REALTORS® Land Institute webinar hosted by Hawkins, “Artificial Intelligence & Fraud Prevention,” on Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. CT.

Get more real estate safety tips at nar.realtor/safety.

Meet the Guests 

Nicholas Lagos is an associate broker with Century 21 New Millennium in Arlington, Va., and owns Gawen Realty Property Management. He serves as the 2024 chair of NAR’s Risk Management Committee, which advises on association policy regarding emerging threats to the real estate industry. Lagos also has served several roles at the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®, including the 2018 treasurer and the 2020 president. 

Heather Ozur, ABR, CRS, is an agent with The RECollective in greater Palm Springs, Calif. She has held various leadership positions in the REALTOR® organization, including serving as president of the California Desert Association of REALTORS®, secretary of the Greater Palm Springs Association of REALTORS® and treasurer of the California Association of REALTORS®. Ozur is the 2024 president-elect for CAR.

This episode is sponsored by Forewarn:

Podcast transcript:

About the Host

Tracey Hawkins, also known as “Tracey, the Safety Lady,” is a former real estate agent who founded her own safety education program, Safety and Security Source, in 1995. Hawkins is a content creator who teaches 12 interactive safety classes that she wrote herself. She teaches agents to stay safe and build their businesses by protecting the consumer. She teaches brokerages how to reduce liability. Hawkins has written expert safety content for REALTOR® Magazine and other national real estate publications, including RISMedia, Inman and The Close.