We’re continually highlighting cases where a conveyancer has fallen victim to online fraud. More often than not, a last-minute change of bank account details will be emailed over by a fraudster, pretending to be the vendor’s solicitor. Unfortunately, the change will be made, and the funds transferred.
We’re continually highlighting cases where a conveyancer has fallen victim to online fraud.
More often than not, a last-minute change of bank account details will be emailed over by a fraudster, pretending to be the vendor’s solicitor. Unfortunately, the change will be made, and the funds transferred.
Increasingly sophisticated ruses
In many of these cases, the fraudster will use a relatively straightforward and somewhat crude technique (that many conveyancers would have detected). However, if such a simplistic scam could be so effective, think of the huge impact fraudsters are having now the methods they’re using are growing in sophistication.
Exploiting technology
The rise of email modification fraud, hacking, ransomware and CEO fraud (often fuelled by social engineering exploits) should be a concern for every conveyancer. You simply cannot do too much to protect your clients’ money.
Safe lists & email modification fraud
If you use a safe list, this could be amended by a victim of a social engineering scam, or the financial details of the companies on your safe list could be altered. Relying on your staff to identify potential threats simply isn’t good enough, particularly with the rise of email modification fraud (EMF) in which fraudsters can spoof someone’s email address.
The potential impact on your business is huge
Whilst the initial loss of a large sum of client funds would undoubtedly in the short-term be painful for any conveyancer, this would potentially be just the beginning of your problems.
Loss of reputation
If the loss was deemed to be your fault, you may be subject to an investigation by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or Solicitors Regulation Authority. Even in instances where you are deemed not to be responsible, there can be a negative impact. If your firm is associated publicly in any way with fraud, it can affect people’s confidence in your business for the foreseeable future.
Prevention is protection
Ensuring that Lawyer Checker’s Account & Entity Screen is part of your firm’s risk prevention strategy can help to protect clients’ money and your business’ reputation. Using Account and Entity Screen should be second nature. It simply isn’t enough to be selective as to which transactions you use it for.
Due to the ever-sophisticated fraud techniques outlined above and the potential ongoing negative impact upon your business (from just one mistake), you can’t afford not to use Lawyer Checker as part of your strategy.
