UK house buyers hit with payment diversion fraud (PDF) have suffered average losses of £82,000 over the past year, a new awareness campaign has warned.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has teamed up with The Law Society to urge solicitors and conveyancers to scrutinize payments more carefully.
PDF is a type of business email compromise (BEC) in which threat actors impersonate a trusted entity such as a solicitor, conveyancer or estate agent. The goal is to trick house buyers into sending them deposit funds or the balance of payments when completing a purchase.
Given the large sums involved in such purchases, the impact can be devastating for those defrauded. The NCA claimed that victims lose millions of pounds each year to this type of fraud.
Read more on BEC: Business Email Compromise Costs $55bn Over a Decade
From a technical perspective, the fraudster usually either hijacks a legitimate email account or spoofs it with a lookalike domain, before sending victims an invoice with updated bank transfer details.
“Average losses when this happens during a property sale are more than £80,000. That is a life changing sum to lose for most people – but it also does enormous harm to the trust and faith that people place in the legal and financial systems that they rely on,” said Nick Sharp, deputy director fraud at the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC).
“That is why the NCA is actively targeting and disrupting the criminal networks behind payment diversion fraud through investigations and intelligence sharing with international partners. However, prevention remains equally as important as disruptions.”
Steps to Stop PDF
The NCA had the following advice for solicitors and conveyancers:
- Tell clients to check directly that bank details are correct before sending any funds
- Ensure clients have strong and unique passwords for banking/conveyancing accounts
- Ensure you have antivirus software on your devices, to reduce the risk of account hijacking
- Ask vendors/purchasers not to use public or unprotected Wi-Fi to check emails during the conveyancing process, as these networks can be hijacked easily
- Advise clients to avoid posting on social media about buying or selling a property or securing a mortgage, as fraudsters could target them
The NCA also urged house buyers to reduce PDF risks by only transferring small fund amounts initially, and checking if they have been received before proceeding. It added that they should always check bank details directly with their solicitor.
“This campaign with The Law Society represents a vital part of our strategy – by raising awareness and strengthening defences within the law sector, we can significantly reduce opportunities for criminals to succeed,” Sharp concluded.
“Solicitors and conveyancers are the first line of defense in protecting both themselves and their clients from becoming victims.”
