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The problem is growing as hackers take advantage of lax security in the chain of businesses involved in real estate and a potential for a large payoff.
DeGrippo said the schemes appear to originate from overseas, possibly from Russia or Africa, using a variety of techniques to stay ahead of law enforcement.
"Banks have very strong controls in place," he said. "But when they are given wiring instructions from a customer they have a responsibility to send it where it was instructed."
Benda said that customers need to know a wire transfer is "just like cash" and may be impossible to recover, especially if it ends up overseas.
Lawsuits from consumers often target real estate agents, attorneys, escrow agents, banks and settlement companies that prepare documents for deals.
"There are a lot of people involved, and (fraudsters) can hack into any one of these parties," said Finley Maxson, senior counsel at the National Association of Realtors.
"These emails have become much more sophisticated, they are much harder to catch."
Maxson said the Realtors and other associations are moving aggressively to educate all parties involved about the potential for fraud and the need for better security.
"We're telling people they should never give these (wiring) instructions by email," he said.
It may be difficult to establish liability, but Hicks said that "consumers are not going to be careless with their life savings" and that the real estate professionals have a responsibility to ensure the security of their systems, and to give customers adequate information.
The lawsuit filed by Hicks for the Butchers said that "the scam that befell the Butchers was well-known in the real estate industry and easily preventable."
Earlier this year, a Kansas court assigned 85 percent of the liability to a hacked real estate agent and awarded a homebuyer defrauded by fake wiring instructions $167,129.
Hicks said that in these cases, "there is a lot of blame to go around," but argued that "unless companies have to pay money they won't do what's necessary to protect the consumer."
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