How to Protect Yourself From Fraud When Purchasing a Property

Buying a property can be one of the most significant, stressful and largest financial purchases you will make. Unfortunately, criminals are aware of how vulnerable buyers can be during this time and are increasingly targeting the conveyancing process with sophisticated scams aimed at stealing personal information or intercepting large payments.

As a buyer, particularly if you are a first time buyer, and everything is new to you, it is vital to stay vigilant and take proactive steps to protect yourself.

Steps to protect yourself from fraud when purchasing a property

Instruct a reputable and regulated lawyer

You should start by choosing a lawyer who is employed by a firm and is regulated by a recognised body such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). You can use the SRA’s or CLC’s official register to confirm the legitimacy of the firm that you chose to instruct. You should also ensure they are members of the Conveyancers Quality Scheme (CQS).

Avoid dealing with lawyers found solely through social media adverts and always ensure that the firm has a physical address. Also be sure to check their online reviews and that they appear to be from real clients (as opposed to “bots”).

Be alert to email scams

One of the biggest risks to a purchaser during the conveyancing process is email fraud, especially scams aimed at diverting your payments (also called Payment Diversion Fraud). Such scams often involve criminals hacking into your email account to send fraudulent emails that look legitimate.

Avoid and report:

• Emails requesting urgent or unexpected payments
• Emails saying that the bank details of the law firm has changed; and/or
• Emails with unusual grammar or slightly altered email addresses

You could protect yourself by:

• Always confirming bank account details by telephone using a trusted number for the law firm/your lawyer
• Never sending large payments without verbal confirmation, especially close to completion, when you are most vulnerable
• Avoid clicking on suspicious links or attachments received in an email purported to be from your lawyer.

Keep personal and property details private

Fraudsters can gather personal data from your social media accounts to impersonate you so that their scams are more realistic.

You can protect yourself by:

• Avoiding posting your address, moving date, or pictures of the property and keys or documents online
• Setting your social media accounts to private and limit who can view your content
• Being cautious when posting on property-related groups online.

Stay vigilant and ask questions

If something doesn’t feel right, especially with unusual emails or unexpected requests, you are entitled to pause and verify. You should feel comfortable to reach out to your lawyer directly using a telephone number you know to be accurate.

Always remember, fraudsters often rely on and manipulate pressure, urgency, and deception, but you can always take a few minutes to confirm details.

Use the free HM Land Registry’s Property Alert Service

After completion, you should protect your property’s title by signing up to the Land Registry’s free Property Alert service. This service sends you notifications if someone attempts to make changes to your property’s title through an application, such as registering a mortgage or transferring the property’s ownership.

By signing up to this free service, you can act early to stop unauthorised changes. You can register up to 10 properties per email address using this service, which is useful for homeowners and landlords alike. You can find out more information on: here.

Register and keep your address for service updated

Your address for service as held by Land Registry is the address that the Land Registry will use to send any legal notices. This address is not automatically updated, e.g. when you update your address with the DVLA or Companies House. If this address with the Land Registry is out of date, you could miss notices from the Land Registry.

You should:

• Register multiple addresses for service at the Land Registry – this could include an email address in addition to your postal address, or the address of a trusted family member; and or
• Please ensure that you always update your address for service if you move.

How can Pinney Talfourd help?

If you would like more information, please contact our Residential Property department who would be happy to assist you throughout every stage of your property purchase.