Don’t Get Caught Out By Fraudsters On The Busiest Day Of The Year

Friday 30th August is expected to be the busiest day of the year for conveyancers as over 6,500 Brits are expected to move home.

Friday 30th August is expected to be the busiest day of the year for conveyancers as over 6,500 Brits are expected to move home.

With all the excitement and the stress, there is also an element of danger for conveyancers and home buyers, as lurking in the shadows are criminals, biding their time to intercept emails and land one of the biggest pay days of their lives. Recently, one buyer had £67,000 stolen by fraudsters who intercepted emails between him and his solicitor.

But what can be done to ensure that no criminal can walk away with thousands of pounds, ruining the home buyer’s day, and destroying the conveyancer’s reputation?

It’s simple. Ensure you have robust blanket policies in place, which reminds everyone in your team of the importance of checking that all of the personal details are correct for the buyer or other firm you are dealing with. Especially contact details and more importantly bank details. If something doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t. If in doubt, pick up the phone and call the client/firm.

There are a couple of other measures you, as the conveyancer, can put into place too. This shores up the back door and reaffirms that you have all the correct details prior to the transaction.

If your side of the deal sees you transferring money from yourself to the client (or vice versa), you could conduct a Consumer Bank Account Checker search. This search will confirm whether the bank details you currently have, correspond to your client, or someone else entirely.  This is extremely useful and prevents criminals who have intercepted emails from sending you different bank details with the aim of defrauding the money from you.

If you’re acting on behalf of your client and sending funds to another solicitor, you could run an Account and Entity Screen check. This search verifies whether the other firm you’re dealing with is legitimate and isn’t a criminal hiding in sheep’s clothing.

In short, it’s vital that everyone in your firm is aware of the very real risk cyber criminals pose. Not just on this day, but every day.

All you need to do is:

  • Conduct due diligence checks ensuring you have the correct details. For example, Account & Entity Screen, Consumer Bank Account Checker or contacting the client directly using contact numbers you have filed away
  • Ensure all of your employees are following the same procedure by adopting and enforcing a blanket policy.

Sign up for Cyber Essentials this August directly through Lawyer Checker and you'll receive £50 off

For many organisations, cyber security isn’t often at the forefront of people’s minds. This lack of thought is the vulnerability that cyber criminals’ prey upon in the hope of stealing data and finances. Cyber Essentials is a Government backed accreditation scheme, which is also recommended by the National Cyber Security Centre, as the first line of defence against cyber attacks. Cyber Essentials covers five key areas of vulnerability. These are:

  • Control who has access to your data and services
  • Protect your firm and viruses from malware
  • Keep devices and software up to date
  • User secure settings for your device
  • Firewall protection

The benefits of certification include:

  • Protect your business against 80% of common cyber attacks
  • Attract new business with the promise that you take cyber attacks seriously
  • Certain local and national Government contracts require Cyber Essentials Certification

Click here to claim this offer