UK homebuyers are being warned about a rise in conveyancing fraud, a scam that has cost victims tens of thousands of pounds, with one individual losing £300,000. The fraud typically occurs at the end of a home sale, when buyers are expecting to transfer their deposit or purchase price.
How the scam works
Criminals gain access to email chains between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents, then request payment to a bank account they control. Sometimes the solicitor’s email has been hacked, but often the homebuyer has been the victim of a phishing exercise.
The scam is sometimes known as “Friday afternoon fraud” because it tends to take place at the end of a sale, which is often timed before a weekend. The large sums involved in property sales mean fraudsters only need to land a few victims to make a lot of cash.
Scale of the problem
Report Fraud (formerly known as Action Fraud) recorded 3,657 scams involving persuading people to pay into the wrong bank account in the 2025-26 financial year, costing victims a total of £101m. Conveyancing fraud is a subset of this.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, Report Fraud recorded 140 property cases with an average loss of £78,393. In the worst case covered by the Guardian, a homebuyer transferred the entire £300,000 purchase price to the wrong account.
What the scam looks like
The fake email looks just like a message from your solicitor or estate agent. It asks for a payment you are expecting to make, but it may come earlier than expected. It may say the solicitors’ firm has new bank details and the payment needs to be made quickly.
If your solicitor’s email has been hacked, the message could come from its genuine address, but usually fraudsters use a spoofed email address. Look carefully for something slightly different from the genuine company’s address, such as a missing letter or extra punctuation mark.
How to protect yourself
City of London police has warned that this type of fraud isn’t limited to purchases – it’s also been reported by renters who have lost money they thought they’d paid to their letting agent, and in probate transactions.
To avoid becoming a victim, don’t post about your impending move on social media, as fraudsters could spot this and target you. Ensure your email account is secure with a strong password and use extra protection such as two-factor authentication. Avoid logging into public wifi to check your emails.
If you are expecting to exchange on a property soon, ask for the solicitor’s bank details in person or over the phone in a call you have made. Any message suggesting your solicitor has changed its bank details should be checked out the same way. Take heed of any warnings from your bank as you transfer money; if the account name does not match what you expect, stop and check everything.
If you have made a transfer that was not legitimate, contact your bank straight away.
