The recent story in the media about a Sydney couple buying a property being scammed out of almost $1 million should serve as a stark reminder to take extreme caution when transferring funds in property transactions.
In the case of the Sydney couple, a day before settlement of their property purchase, they allegedly received what appeared to be a legitimate email from their solicitor requesting they pay settlement funds into a different account. The couple transferred the funds to the new account only to later discover this was not their solicitor’s trust account and they had become victims of a cruel scam.
With property prices soaring in recent months, and an increasing reliance on email and remote communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential losses to what is commonly known as ‘Email Compromise Scams’ is also increasing.
Scammers are hacking into email accounts and obtaining access to legitimate emails sent by solicitors to clients and changing details of bank accounts so that money that the client thinks is being transferred into the solicitor’s trust account is actually being deposited into the accounts of criminals. Solicitors aren’t the only targets, with recent cases of real estate agents also being targeted by scammers redirecting payments of deposits on property purchases.
Given the sophistication of these scams people need to be vigilant and treat all email requests to transfer funds with suspicion, even if it appears to be a legitimate email. Most importantly, bank account details should always be independently verified with the intended recipient by telephone. A simple phone call could prevent you losing your life savings.
