Email scammers took my house deposit

uk canada goose outlet Earlier this year Mary Smith (not her real name), a London based marketing professional, was scammed out of 60,000 by cyber criminals. It is an extraordinary amount for the average professional. When most people think about losing money to bank fraud, canada goose outlet they buycanadagoose imagine sums ranging from 50 to 500, maybe 5,000 at a stretch, because in the normal canada goose clearance course of events, most people don’t deal in tens of thousands of pounds until they are canada goose store buying a house. uk canada goose outlet

canada goose coats on sale Sadly for her, Smith, 34, was a victim of a relatively new kind of scam conveyancing fraud. As the name suggests, this is a crime that takes place during the house buying process. What typically canada goose happens is that the scammers hack into the email of the solicitor handling the deal. They usually do this speculatively conveyancing is bread and butter work for most high street solicitors and look for email exchanges between potential housebuyers and their solicitors. canada goose coats on sale

Canada Goose Outlet This is what happened to Smith, who was buying a flat in southwest London: “I received an email from the solicitor saying, ‘I think the next step is to transfer the deposit,'” she explains. She wrote back to say she did not have the account details and received a reply, purportedly from her solicitor, saying he would send them. Finally an email arrived with the sort code and account number. Canada Goose Outlet

canada goose What she did not know was that these emails were not coming from her solicitor. The hackers were “spoofing” her solicitor’s email address and sending messages that appeared to come from him. In turn, Smith’s replies to say she had sent the money were intercepted by the hackers. Technically, this is easy to do and allowed them to achieve their goal getting her to send her deposit to the wrong account. canada goose

canada goose coats Smith called her investment manager and asked him to transfer 60,000 to the bank account on the email. The next canada goose black friday sale day she called her solicitor to ask if the money had canada goose clearance sale arrived. He said it hadn’t. A few days later canadian goose jacket she felt worried and showed him the email he was supposed to have sent. “He replied that these weren’t his details and that he’d never sent the email. Panic ran through my body,” she says. Next, Smith and her solicitor called the banks concerned and the police. They investigated the account to which her money had been sent, canada goose deals and discovered that there was still 14,000 in there, which was duly frozen. This was returned to Smith but she was still 46,000 down and believed there was no way she could complete her purchase. canada goose coats

Canada Goose online When she explained to the vendors of the flat she was buying, they reduced the price by 13,000 (they needed her money to buy their next house). She then employed a second group of solicitors to begin proceedings against her buy canada goose jacket cheap conveyancing lawyer. Canada Goose online

buy canada goose jacket In the end, Smith did manage to complete the purchase, using money that she had saved for building work on the new flat. But she was still about 10,000 out of pocket, while her vendors and solicitor had lost Canada Goose sale substantial sums too, and the scammers got away with 46,000. This is conveyancing fraud in a nutshell. Apart from the distress, the practical implications and the loss of funds, one of the difficulties, is that it is by no canada goose coats means clear where the fault lies. So, how do you stay safe? Homebuyers should check the bank details and then check them again. Banks and solicitors now advise against completing these transactions based on emails alone. Buyers should use the details in Canada Goose online the letters their solicitor sends them and even then they should double check details by phone. They should also treat with suspicion any communication claiming that bank details have changed. Always phone or pop in to the office to check. And do not allow anyone to coerce you into proceeding any faster than you are comfortable with. Pressure to do things quickly is a classic scammer’s tactic and appears again and again in fraud of all sizes. buy canada goose jacket

Canada Goose Coats On Sale Finally, Smith suggests a simple test. “If I had to give people one cheap Canada Goose piece of advice, I would tell them to telephone the solicitor to double check all of the bank details. That way you know that your money will arrive.”It usually takes Canada Goose Jackets place when scammers hack into the email communications between house buyers and their solicitors. They then send the buyers an email, which appears to come from their solicitor, telling them to transfer the money into a different account. The fraudsters then withdraw the money and quickly disappear. Canada Goose Coats On Sale

canadian goose jacket So, what can you do to prevent this distressing type of fraud happening to you? canadian goose jacket

Canada Goose sale Make sure that you look at your emails properly. If you receive a request for buy canada goose jacket payment from your solicitor, always double check it. You should be particularly wary of any email that claims your solicitor’s bank details have changed. Canada Goose sale

uk canada goose Call your solicitor, ensuring you use a number you know works or that you have obtained independently (for example, from their website). Do not use any phone numbers on the email for verification purposes. uk canada goose

canada goose clearance sale When you speak to the solicitor, ask first if they have made the request and whether they sent the email. Then check the details canada goose clearance sale

canada goose uk outlet in full. The two most crucial numbers that you need to verify are the account number and the sort code. Ask them to read these to you and make sure you check them then check them again. canada goose uk outlet

canada goose factory sale Finally, it’s a good idea to get yourself into the mindset that email is generally insecure. Emails can be hacked fairly easily, and fake canada goose coats on sale messages sent to recipients containing fraudulent details can often appear very real. Therefore all email requests for payment or sensitive information should be double checked with the sender, using a channel other than email, such as the phone. canada goose factory sale

cheap Canada Goose All this may sound like extra hassle, but taking just five minutes to check all the details when you’re about to transfer 50,000 could be the smartest investment you ever make cheap Canada Goose.