Conveyancing fraud: BBC Morning Live

Conveyancing fraud is a major problem, and Stephen Ward, a director at the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), talked to BBC Morning Live recently about it.

It’s not just the large sums of money that make property purchases attractive to criminals, the sense of urgency many feel as transactions come close to exchange and completion can also lead people to overlook small details that may indicate a fraudulent telephone call or email. BBC’s Morning Live programme recently covered the issue and spoke to the CLC.

Conveyancing fraud is often referred to as ‘Friday afternoon fraud’ because most property sales complete on a Friday and is something we, the only specialist conveyancing regulator, have been raising awareness of for some time.

Typically, scammers hack into emails between conveyancers and homebuyers and effectively hijack the process. Once they have identified a suitable victim, they will remain dormant until just before exchange of contracts or completion, when a large sum of money may be due to be passed from the buyer to their conveyancer to fund the purchase.

At this point they will send a fake, but genuine-looking email to the homebuyer, appearing to come from their conveyancer, with revised bank account details for where to send the deposit. Once the unsuspecting homebuyer transfers funds into this fraudulent account, the fraudsters empty it and close it down. By the time the buyer realises that something is amiss, the criminal will already have transferred the money to numerous other accounts, often abroad, where it is then cashed out.

While none of us like to imagine this happening to us, the sums involved in these scams can be devastating. Fraudsters prey on the time pressured nature of exchange and completion to unsettle their victims and rush them into making errors. Never feel pressured to transfer money if something doesn’t feel right.  

By choosing a specialist conveyancer regulated by the CLC, you have the assurance of knowing they are required to have procedures in place to help clients avoid falling victim to fraud and should things go wrong, they are required to have indemnity insurance in place to cover their clients. Do ensure you ask about your conveyancer’s procedures; no question is too silly, and your conveyancer is just as keen as you are to ensure that no one falls victim to fraud.

You cannot be too cautious when transferring large sums of money. Never rely on details sent to you via email. Always ensure that when it is time to transfer money you contact your conveyancer directly on the telephone, on a number you know to be correct, to confirm bank details. It may seem like a hassle, and there can often be time pressures close to completion, but not taking the time to do this has resulted in heartache for many who have discovered they have lost large sums of money to fraudsters.

For more tips and guidance watch our director Stephen Ward on Morning Live.

Kindly shared by The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC)