Friday Afternoon Fraud

What is Friday afternoon fraud?

Friday afternoon fraud is the number one cybercrime in the legal sector and is one you should be aware of when purchasing your new home. 

Being a victim of any fraud can be traumatic, but when dealing with one of the largest purchases you're likely to make, the threat is heightened.

If you search Friday afternoon fraud, you'll find horror stories of people losing tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds. This type of fraud can be truly devastating to those involved, and full recovery of the funds is very rare. 

Friday afternoon fraud is a targeted and malicious crime named after the fact that most house completions take place on a Friday afternoon. The weekend gives fraudsters additional time to move the funds they've stolen without being detected while making it harder for the victim to contact authorities.  The funds are generally transferred very quickly out of the primary account and then prove difficult if not impossible to trace.

Friday afternoon fraud typically involves the interception of emails between the conveyancer and their client. Once they have access, fraudsters will amend emails and documents sent between the parties to replace the bank details of those involved with their own. This means that when money is being transferred as part of the house sale or purchase, funds are diverted to the fraudster's bank accounts rather than the conveyancer. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to identify that emails have been intercepted, in some cases following their chain of emails and being received by identical email addresses.

How to protect yourself

Most conveyancers are well versed in the techniques used by fraudsters and have processes in place to mitigate the risk to their clients. There are a few simple actions you should take that could save you from becoming a victim.

• Do not trust any bank details you received my email, even if it appears to have been sent by your conveyancer. You should have received their bank details in the post as part of the process. This is often accompanied by a statement confirming that they will not change that Bank details during the process.
• Do you not send your bank details by email either in the body of the email or as an attachment. 
• Keep your passwords secure and up-to-date, making sure no one else has access to your emails.
• When it comes to transferring money, check that the account name matches the details you expect. 
• Transfer a small amount of money first. Confirm by phone that your conveyancer has received this before transferring the full amount.
• Do you not trust any phone numbers or other contact details for your conveyancer that you receive by email. You should approach emails from your conveyancer with the mindset that they have been intercepted to be safe. 
• Make sure you have received accurate contact details early on in the process, ideally by post. 

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