Please tell your buyers and sellers not to trust email when wiring money for a transaction. Always call their real estate agent to verify.
A state Supreme Court judge was scammed out of mor
e than $1 million after being fooled by an email she thought had been sent by her real estate lawyer, the Daily News has learned.
Acting State Supreme Court Justice Lori Sattler, 51, was duped while trying to sell her apartment and buy another, sources said.
On Friday, Sattler told police she’d gotten an email June 7 from someone she believed was her lawyer, sources said.
The person claiming to be the lawyer told her to send money to an account. She followed the instructions and wired $1,057,500 to that account, sources said. The money was then sent to Commerce Bank of China, sources said.
A doorman at her Upper East Side building said the judge, who is assigned to the Manhattan criminal courts, wasn’t taking visitors.
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, declined comment based on the pending investigation.