Reverend Mike Hall was recently shocked to be alerted by neighbours that someone was living in his Luton house. He returned home straight away to discover the locks changed, his belongings gone and a stranger telling him that they’d bought the house. Mr Hall had been the victim of conveyancing fraud.
Conveyancing fraud is becoming increasingly common, particularly in a Covid-19 digital world where many homebuyers, sellers and solicitors communicate over email. The most common type of conveyancing fraud occurs when fraudsters intercept emails between home buyers and their solicitors. It works like this:
- The fraudster intercepts emails to obtain sensitive personal details about a conveyancing transaction
- The fraudster spoofs their email and contacts the buyer pretending to be the solicitors, usually, at the point the buyer is preparing to exchange contracts or complete on their purchase
- The fraudster asks the buyer to transfer the deposit or purchase monies to their own bank account
- The buyer, thinking they’re communicating with their solicitor, transfers the money to the fraudster
We’ve previously shared our tips for protecting yourself against this kind of conveyancing fraud. Our conveyancing solicitors are also really careful to protect our clients from this kind of fraud by investing in the highest levels of cyber security, and we are Cyber Essentials certified.
However, Reverend Hall was hit by a particularly sophisticated type of conveyancing fraud. But it is possible to protect yourself from this kind of fraud – read on for our tips.
How do you ‘steal’ a house?
The fraudsters in Reverend Hall’s case managed to sell his house, despite not being the owners.
They did this by acquiring a driving licence used to steal Mr Hall’s identity. They also set up a bank account specifically to receive the sale proceeds. They then instructed solicitors and managed to sell the house for £131,000. The Land Registry conducted the transfer of title, removing Reverend Hall and naming the buyer as the new ‘owner’.
The first Reverend Hall knew of the scam was when his neighbours alerted him that people were inside his house. He rushed home from Wales, where he was working, to find a man doing building work. The new ‘owner’ then turned up and told Hall to leave because he’d bought the house.
When Reverend Hall called the police, he was initially told it was a civil matter. However, the police have now accepted that it’s fraud and have arrested someone in Bedford on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
How to protect yourself against this type of conveyancing fraud
The idea of someone selling your home without you even noticing is a terrifying prospect. Fortunately, this type of fraud is rare. There are many layers of protection before a fraudster can get this far – for example, solicitors have strict legal responsibilities to verify clients’ identities, and a bank is likely to flag an account set up just to move a large amount of money.
The Land Registry is also poised to identify potentially fraudulent transactions. However, it says, “despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions”. Last year, it paid out £3.5 million in compensation for fraud.
If you don’t just want to rely on the Land Registry and other organisations to protect your land and property, here are some proactive steps you can take to protect yourself:
Make sure your property is registered
Most properties in England and Wales are registered at the Land Registry. Being registered means that it is simple to keep an eye on the title and check if any unauthorised transactions do occur. If fraud does occur, being registered also means that you can likely receive compensation.
Some properties are unregistered. This is usually the case if you have owned the property for a very long time and no transactions (such as mortgages) have been registered in the meantime.
If your property is unregistered, it may be a good idea to register it so you can be compensated if you are a victim of fraud.
Sign up for Land Registry property alerts
You can sign up for the Land Registry’s Property Alert service for free. Once you are signed up, if anyone tries to register a transaction, you will receive an email alert, allowing you to take action.
Put a restriction on the title
A restriction allows you to prevent the Land Registry from registering a sale or mortgage on your home unless your solicitor confirms that it was you who made the application.
Contact the Land Registry property fraud team
If you think you’ve been the victim of conveyancing fraud, contact the Land Registry’s dedicated property fraud team.
Get expert conveyancing advice
At Bird & Co, we are a specialist firm of Law Society accredited conveyancing solicitors who help people across the UK buy and sell their homes and conduct other transactions.
We can handle all the legal aspects of your transaction on your behalf, making the process as simple, straightforward and stress-free as possible.
Get a conveyancing quote online to see how much your transaction is likely to cost, then a member of our conveyancing team will be in touch shortly.
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