A Silicon Valley executive warns of the dangers of cybercrime after $400,000 was stolen from her while buying a home.

• A criminal tricked Rana Robillard, the chief people officer at Tekion, into sending her life savings.
• The sophisticated nature of cybercrime is illustrated by the case of Robillard, a 25-year tech industry veteran.
• Criminals have found real estate, with its large transactions and frequent wire transfers, to be a particularly profitable target.

Rana Robillard was thrilled to discover she had won the bidding war for a house in the picturesque California suburb of Orinda, located near San Francisco, after a year of searching.

In late January, Robillard, the chief people officer at Tekion, promptly wired a $398,359.58 down payment to the account specified by her mortgage broker in the email she received.

The email seemed to be a reply from Robillard's broker regarding the final steps before the closing, which was imminent.

On Jan. 30, the day after sending the wire, Robillard received a duplicate request for the down payment, and she realized she had fallen for a scam. To her horror, instead of sending a down payment for her future home to the title company, she had unknowingly sent her life savings to a criminal.

Robillard, 55, told CNBC that she went into a full panic when the details of her story were verified by the four banks involved.

Robillard, a 25-year veteran of tech companies including cybersecurity firm HackerOne, discusses the growing complexity of cybercrime. Cybercriminals are now able to infiltrate the email systems of mortgage brokers, real estate agents, lawyers, and other advisors, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to strike by sending emails or making phone calls that appear to be from trusted sources.

Fraudsters have found real estate to be a highly profitable target due to its large transaction sizes, frequent use of wire transfers, and the fact that wires are faster, can handle larger sums, and are often irreversible, making them ideal for fraudulent activities.

Over the past decade, the number of scams related to fake emails in real estate transactions has increased dramatically, resulting in losses of $446.1 million in 2022, compared to just $9 million in 2015, according to FBI data.

Naftali Harris, CEO of anti-fraud startup SentiLink, stated that once criminals obtain a victim's money, they swiftly redistribute it to other bank accounts before withdrawing it as cash, converting it into crypto or utilizing mules to launder the funds. As a result, recovering funds in wire fraud can be challenging, he emphasized.

"Moving the fraudulent funds from the first account to multiple institutions makes it harder to track and benefits the fraudster, as the process becomes more complex and murky," Harris stated.

According to people with knowledge of her case who weren't authorized to speak publicly, initially, Robillard's funds were in a JPMorgan Chase account before being transferred to accounts at and .

An FBI official from the cyber branch of the San Francisco division contacted her bank after Robillard reported the fraud on Jan. 30.

"The official has stated that funds have been found and are currently being held, but they are unable to disclose any further information, as per a Feb. 2 email reviewed by CNBC."

Waiting for months

After that promising start, Robillard's frustrations have only mounted.

JPMorgan has been leading the case and has not provided updates on the release of Robillard's funds after 90 days, as initially told.

Robillard became obsessed with advocating for herself after the FBI informed her that its role was over once the banks involved had frozen her funds. She reached out to elected officials and government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"I've been trying to get people to help, but despite following up with random individuals from Chase every week and filing complaints to various agencies such as the California attorney general, the FTC, and the CFPB, I haven't received any updates or information."

In July, Robillard admitted to CNBC that she was uncertain if she would ever recover her funds.

Despite being in financial difficulties, the world has progressed while her dream home, a newly renovated four-bedroom on half an acre of land, has been relisted by Opendoor for $1.63 million.

Robillard made the decision to share her story about real estate wire fraud in an effort to increase awareness, as well as a final attempt to recover her lost funds.

""Although it's not what I expected my public image to be, I've lost a lot of money, and I'm willing to do it if it helps others, even though it's not my proudest moment," Robillard stated."

Room for improvement

Robillard admits that she could have been more cautious before initiating the wire transfer. Specifically, she acknowledges that she should have confirmed with OS National, the title company owned by , that the wire request she received in January was legitimate.

Robillard believes that all parties involved could have done more to prevent the issue with wire directions and document sharing.

Only one of the 20+ emails exchanged between Robillard and her mortgage processor, Kristy Aichinger of Compass Mortgage Advisors, was sent by a cybercriminal. The email was identical to the others.

According to Robillard, Compass Mortgage, based in Martinez, California, denied being hacked but admitted that the email with wire directions was not from them.

Last week, when contacted by phone, Aichinger refused to provide comment and directed a reporter to Kent Donahue, the company's founder and president.

Donahue didn't respond to several detailed messages about this story.

'We are sorry'

After more than five months in limbo, Robillard finally caught a break.

After CNBC contacted the banks in early July regarding the Robillard case, she received a $150,000 wire from Chase, which had been bounced back from Ally. Additionally, on Thursday, Robillard received the balance of her down payment from Citi, which was nearly $250,000.

A JPMorgan spokesman had the following comment:

"The spokesman stated that although Ms. Robillard is not their customer, they were able to recover all of her funds that were fraudulently taken from her real estate transaction."

JPMorgan advised consumers to be cautious of sudden alterations to payment instructions and to always double-check the recipient before transferring funds.

Schwab, Robillard's bank, advised CNBC to remain cautious about safeguarding their personal information and to be wary of financial transactions.

Robillard still doesn't know who was behind the scam.

Although the tech executive was thrilled to start a new home search, she expressed a pessimistic outlook.

The real estate industry has become accustomed to conducting transactions electronically, which is convenient, but exposes buyers to fraud, she stated. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, criminals will have more resources to deceive those they trust and steal Americans' money, she cautioned.

""Nobody is prepared for the new world, including banks and real estate companies," Robillard stated."