Kirsty McLuckie: Beware of transfer scams

It is estimated that more than two-thirds of adults in the UK have been targeted by scammers. And while most of these are likely to involve fake package delivery payments or offers of get-rich-quick schemes, there are a considerable number that target authentic property transactions.

After all, these are often when we depart with the largest sums of cash so, for the criminals, getting in on the act could be very lucrative.

The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) has this week issued a warning about a particular type of scam, designed to separate would-be buyers from their hard-earned money by a payment diversion.

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It is known as “Friday afternoon fraud”, because of the criminal timing – if an erroneous payment is paid from your bank just before the weekend, the mistake may not be discovered until Monday. And, as many property purchases go through on a Friday, transferring a deposit is particularly vulnerable.

Image: Adobe StockImage: Adobe Stock
Image: Adobe Stock

Typically, it involves an unscrupulous someone impersonating a solicitor to give fake bank details to an unfortunate buyer for a money transfer.

Jonathan Rolande, from the NAPB, says: “Unfortunately, it’s one of those awful crimes where you only need to be lucky once as the criminal, and you might get hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

A Which? report suggests that the issue has been worsened by the pandemic as remote transactions took over. As Rolande points out: “Quite often, you'll never meet your mortgage advisor, you'll never meet your solicitor, these things are often done in call centres.”

It is true that largely gone are the days when you knew “your” bank manager or broker.

At least one member of staff at my local bank branch in the 1990s used to shush my attempts to identify myself when I phoned them saying: “It’s OK, I recognise your voice”.

And the solicitor we employed to buy our first house was my friend’s brother, who I’d known for years.

I’m not suggesting that we can return to that in these digital times, but perhaps we should consider the extraordinary lengths we as – mortgagees and buyers – have to go through to prove our identity during the purchasing process. A few similar rules for the professionals we employ might make our transactions safer.

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I would suggest setting up a code word or number at the start of the process and asking your solicitor to include it in every correspondence.

At the very least, for each interaction you have about sending a deposit – whether email or phone call – you should ask a detailed question about your purchase that scammers would not know.

You could also send a small test amount before the big transfer, have your solicitor confirm that the sum has been received, and then use the same account details for the main transfer.

Make sure you do not call the phone number in any new email or given to you in an incoming call as it may well be a scammer’s.

And, when you have made the transfer, check with the solicitor’s finance department every hour or so until the money is safely received. If it hasn’t appeared you can alert your bank immediately rather than leaving it till after the weekend.

- Kirsty McLuckie is property editor at The Scotsman

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