BLOGS

Conveyancing fraud is unfortunately on the rise within law firms around the world and cyber criminals are becoming ever more sophisticated in their approach as well as the methods and technology they use.

 

Buying a property is an exciting yet stressful time and as such, the potential of falling victim to a scam is very rarely on a buyer’s mind when they transfer their deposit to their conveyancer in anticipation for exchange. Criminals are therefore actively targeting those buying homes due to the huge amounts of money involved in purchasing a property for example, the deposit monies or the full purchase funds. 

 

“Payment diversion scams” occur when the scammer hacks into emails between the buyer and their conveyancer and manages to impersonate the conveyancer. The scammer will contact the buyer pretending to be their conveyancer often near a time of exchange of contracts in order to request deposit funds or balance of funds required to complete the purchase. The scammer will use an identical/almost identical email address to that of the conveyancer (and even with the exact company footer) and have email correspondence with the unknowing buyer phishing for information in relation to the purchase (unknown to the conveyancer). Once the buyer has fallen for the scam, the scammer will then provide their own bank details or a company bank account details that is controlled by them and by the time that either the buyer or conveyancer has realised what has happened, it is too late and the money has disappeared as the scammer withdraws the money, closes the account down and disappears.

 

As above, these criminals are extremely sophisticated and can make the scam look like as though the request for funds has come from the conveyancer.

 

Conveyancing scams are incredibly dangerous and in some cases, victims of such scams are unable to get their money back as the victim has “authorised” the transaction as they believed the payment request was genuine. If however you are scammed and payment is made without authority, this is a different scenario and the bank would be liable.

 

We therefore set out below ways in which you can protect yourself from conveyancing fraud:

 

·         Scammers often contact their victims over email and so you should always read your emails from your conveyancer carefully to check it is in the tone they usually correspond with you in, using language they would normally and they are not being “pushy” about you sending the funds. If you are ever concerned about an email you have received, please call your conveyancer to report it or check it is genuine. It is better to be safe than sorry.

 

·         Always check the bank account details you have been provided with by your conveyancer and the request for funds over the phone or in person.

 

·         Be aware that scammer will only make generic requests for money e.g. your conveyancer will request a specific deposit amount but scammers do not have this specific information available to them and would request “your 10% deposit” rather then the actual amount of your deposit.

 

·         If you are still unsure about the bank details you have been provided with, transfer a small amount such as £1 in order to confirm with your conveyancer those funds have been received.

 

·         Make sure you fully understand the conveyancing process for example, when deposit funds would need to be transferred and the amount of the same. For example, deposit funds would not be requested until all enquiries have been satisfied, you have been reported to by your conveyancer and your conveyancer has sent you a completion statement near to the time of exchange and after a completion date has been agreed.

 

·         Avoid posting on social media that you are buying/selling a property or getting a mortgage.

 

As well as the above mentioned payment diversion fraud, scammers have found other ways to commit fraud in relation to your property e.g. mortgage fraud (where a criminal steals money through the mortgage process) or title fraud (where a criminal steals a property owner’s identity and changes the property into their own name) and so it is important to be alert to property fraud and protect yourself.

 

Whether you are buying, selling, or have any queries on the above, please get in touch with our experienced conveyancing team on 01823 446200 who are always on hand to help.