How can I verify my lawyer's trust account details are legitimate before wiring my closing funds?

Call your law firm directly, using a phone number you already have on file from earlier in the transaction or one you find independently, such as through the firm's own website, and never a number provided in the email containing the wire instructions you are trying to verify. Ask to speak with someone at the firm and confirm the trust account details verbally before sending anything.

Be especially cautious of any email suggesting the account details have recently changed, since this is one of the clearest patterns in real estate wire fraud, and treat such a message as a reason to verify more carefully, not less. It is reasonable to ask your lawyer's office, early in the transaction, how they will communicate trust account details and whether they will ever change them by email alone, so you know in advance what a legitimate communication from them actually looks like. Taking a few extra minutes to verify by phone before every significant wire is a small cost against the very real risk of an unrecoverable, fraudulent transfer.