A scammer conned us out of our $32,430 down payment by email. We didn't realize it until 10 days later.

Sat, 07/06/2024 - 04:31

Mr and Mrs Madalena — Daniel Pietschnig and Jessica Madalena fell victim to a scammer who swindled them out of a $32,430 down payment.
Courtesy of Juliet Macey, choness/iStock, Tyler Le/BI

Daniel Pietschnig and Jessica Madalena thought they were emailing their real-estate agent.
But it was really a scammer who had been sending the couple messages for weeks.
The scammer convinced them to wire their $32,430 down payment to a fake bank account and vanished.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daniel Pietschnig, 32, and Jessica Madalena, 31, who lost a $32,430 home down payment to a scammer in 2022. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

Daniel: We live in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. Compared to other major cities in the state like Jersey City and Newark, it is a smaller area.