Tom Cronkright is one of the most active voices in the title industry on all things wire fraud and cyber security. When his agency Sun Title was hit by wire fraud several years ago, he didn’t just fight to get that money back, he worked to build technology-based solutions that could prevent this from happening to others in the industry. Later, this passion project became the company CertifID. CertifID has become a leading provider of wire fraud protection software, insurance and services to hundreds of title agencies and real estate firms. Last year, the technology identified over $1 billion in suspected fraud for customers. The company also launched a new solution to protect mortgage payoff transactions, the leading source of fraud loss to the industry. That product, PayoffProtect, has protected billions in transactions and prevented over $20 million in confirmed fraud cases.

Cronkright also serves on the Cyber Security committee of the industry’s main national advocacy organization, American Land Title Association (ALTA). Through that committee’s work, ALTA issued new Best Practices last year to ensure stronger cybersecurity for their member organizations such as the use of wire verification services. Cronkright knows that well-informed people provide the most important layer of protection to any organization. He has personally trained approximately 5000+ real estate, legal and title professionals and leaders over the past year through sessions at underwriter and industry events. When he saw the rise in seller impersonation involving vacant properties — he worked with the U.S. Secret Service to issue an advisory that raised the awareness of the entire industry to an emerging threat.

What’s the secret to your success?

The experience of having $180,000 stolen from my business ultimately led to a more rewarding professional path than I could have ever imagined. It’s impossible to un-see the rampant cybercrime being inflicted on title agencies that have spent decades operating as low-tech operations.

Name:

Tom Cronkright

Title:

Executive Chairman and Co-Founder

Company Name:

CertifID