Fraudsters target property sales

Fraudsters attempted to hijack dozens of properties last year by impersonating legitimate homeowners, exclusive new figures reveal. 

HM Land Registry recorded 55 cases between April 2025 and March 2026.

The figures – obtained by a Freedom of Information request from Novus Strategy – shows fraudsters seeking various illegal goals.

These include attempting to sell to an unsuspecting buyer, taking out a mortgage secured against it, or transferring ownership using forged documents.

Properties that are mortgage-free, rented out or left empty for long periods are often considered particularly vulnerable targets because the genuine owner may be less likely to spot suspicious activity until it is too late.

The widely reported case of the Reverend Mike Hall illustrates both the reality and impact of owner impersonation fraud. 

In 2021, fraudsters used stolen identity details and forged documentation to impersonate Hall and sell his mortgage-free property in Luton for £131,000 without his knowledge. 

By the time he discovered what had happened, ownership had been transferred, the house had been emptied and renovation work had begun. 

Although HM Land Registry eventually restored his title, it took years of legal action before he regained possession.

A spokesperson for Novus Strategy says:

“Owner impersonation fraud may be rare but it’s a high-impact crime. 

“The concern is that AI can generate increasingly convincing fake documents, meaning they are less likely to be detected by verification processes designed for an earlier generation of fraud. 

“That means today’s figures may understate the real risk we’re facing in the coming years.”

He adds: “A key challenge is that no single organisation has visibility of the entire property transaction journey or a complete view of owner impersonation risk. 

“HM Land Registry sees suspected fraudulent registration applications, Action Fraud records payment diversion cases, and incidents involving forged identity documents or fraudulent conveyancer certification are not separately tracked, creating a fragmented landscape.

“Identity and ownership are checked in isolation, at one desk, at one moment, with no shared, reusable, audited record of who was verified and how.” 

Kindly shared by EstateAgentTODAY  Image courtesy of Adobe