How a Couple Lost $1.2 Million

Hackers broke into a real estate closing company’s servers and waited three months for the right deal — then intercepted a wire and stole $1.2 million from a couple who did everything right, right down to the closing table.

Dr. Eric Cole was a former CIA hacker, Cybersecurity Commissioner under President Obama, and longtime security advisor to Bill Gates. We’re resharing this conversation, originally released in June 2025, in honor of his sudden passing this year and the practical security knowledge he left behind.

Listen Here

Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Key Takeaways

• You Are the Target, Not Just Big Companies: Attackers deliberately go after individuals and small businesses with weak security, precisely because large companies have dedicated security teams. Small, repeated thefts — sometimes as little as $50 a month — often go unnoticed for years.
• Banks Protect Themselves, Not You: FDIC insurance covers you if the bank itself fails. It does not cover you if your password gets stolen and someone drains your account through an electronic transfer — in most cases, that loss is legally yours to absorb, not the bank’s.
• Never Trust a Wire Instruction From Email Alone: A hacked closing company can sit inside a compromised server for months, waiting for a large cash real estate deal before sending fraudulent wire instructions. Always call the company directly, using a phone number you look up yourself, to verify any wire transfer before sending money.
• Turn On the Security Features You Already Have: Two-factor authentication, account alerts, and a unique password for every site close the vast majority of the vulnerabilities scammers exploit. Nearly all the account takeovers Eric saw traced back to a reused or weak password alone.
• Separate Your Devices by Risk: Reserve one device for high-value activity like banking and financial logins, and use a separate, simpler device for everyday browsing and email — so a phishing click on the browsing device can’t cascade into access to your money.

Resources

See your full financial picture — income, debt, safeguards, and goals — in one place with our free one-page worksheet: https://affordanything.com/cornerstone
Dr. Eric Cole’s firm, Secure Anchor Consulting: secure-anchor.com
Signal, the encrypted messaging app Dr. Cole recommends for sensitive conversations: https://signal.org
————————
Stay in the loop – https://affordanything.com/newsletter
————————-
Join our community – https://affordanything.com/community

Chapters

Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads.

(03:41) Why you’re an easier target than a big bank
(06:46) Why cryptocurrency theft is nearly impossible to reverse
(10:59) How one password can move half your savings
(17:35) The fake unpaid-toll text that’s made scammers millions
(21:55) Why paying the ransom is sometimes the smart move
(29:05) How AI clones your kid’s voice for scams
(37:58) The one thing to never hand a child
(54:57) Why you should mask your location online
(01:16:18) The setting that blocks almost every account hack
(01:18:45) The bank alert that can undo fraud fast

Thanks to our sponsors!

Policy Genius
Secure your family’s future with Policygenius. Head to Policygenius.com to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save.