How to protect yourself from property fraud

Your house is almost certainly the most valuable thing you own, and that makes it a target. Property fraud has grown more sophisticated every year, and anyone can be affected: homeowners, buyers, sellers and landlords alike. You are at higher risk if you are the sole owner, if your property is rented out or empty, if it has no mortgage, or if your identity has been compromised elsewhere.

Criminals can impersonate anyone involved in a property transaction: the seller, the buyer, the estate agent or the conveyancer. The methods have moved on considerably since this guide was first written. In 2026 the two risks we see most often are attempts to divert completion funds by email, and attempts to sell or mortgage a property by someone pretending to be the owner. The conveyancing profession has responded with digital identity verification and stricter source of funds checks, and understanding why your solicitor asks for these things is a big part of staying safe. If you are unsure what to expect from the process generally, start with what a conveyancing solicitor does for the buyer.

Here are the steps we recommend to protect your property and your money.

1. Check that your property is registered and the details are current

If you are about to own a new property, make sure it is registered with HM Land Registry. If you already own a home, check regularly that the details held on the register, particularly your correspondence address and contact details, are accurate and up to date. Fraud against absent owners almost always starts with out-of-date contact details, because the Land Registry’s warning letters go to the wrong place.

If you think you may be at higher risk, for example because you rent the property out or live elsewhere, sign up for the Land Registry’s free Property Alert service. You can monitor up to ten properties and receive an email whenever an application is made against any of them, such as a new mortgage or a change of ownership. It takes five minutes and it is the single most effective early-warning system available.

2. Register an anti-fraud restriction

An anti-fraud restriction on your title means the Land Registry will not register a sale or mortgage of the property unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies that the application was made by you, the legitimate owner. It is a significant deterrent and a sensible step for any property that is empty, rented out or mortgage-free.

The restriction is free if you live at the property and currently £40 per property if you do not. It is one of the reasons it pays to use a trusted solicitor for your conveyancing, because the certification step relies on a regulated professional being satisfied about who you are.

3. Expect digital ID checks, and complete them early

If you have not bought or sold since 2023, the identity check process will look different. Most regulated firms now verify clients through a digital identity check on your phone: you photograph your passport or driving licence, take a short video selfie, and the system checks the document’s security features and matches it to you biometrically. This is not a gimmick. It is significantly harder to defeat than a photocopy of a passport, and it is increasingly required by lenders as well as solicitors.

Two practical points:

• Do it as soon as you instruct. Nothing substantive can start on your file until your identity is verified. Delays here delay everything, which is one reason we recommend reading when you should instruct a conveyancing solicitor before you have even found a property.
• Be suspicious of any firm that does not ask. A conveyancer who is happy to act for you on the strength of an emailed scan is exposing you, not doing you a favour.

The same checks are applied to the other side of the transaction. When we act for a buyer, we look for evidence that the seller has been properly identified by their own solicitor, and we ask questions where a property is empty, rented out, mortgage-free or being sold from an estate. These are the properties fraudsters target. If you are selling a home you have inherited, our step-by-step guide to selling an inherited property explains the additional identity and probate documents you will be asked for.

4. Guard against payment diversion fraud on completion

This is the scam that costs individual buyers the most. A fraudster gains access to an email account, usually the client’s or an estate agent’s, watches the conversation between you and your solicitor, and waits. Just before completion, when you are expecting to send a large sum, they send an email that appears to come from your solicitor with “updated” bank details. The money goes to the fraudster and is moved on within hours. It is sometimes called “Friday afternoon fraud” because completions cluster at the end of the week and banks are closed by the time the loss is discovered.

How to protect yourself:

• Our bank details do not change. Gorvins Residential will never notify you of new bank details by email. If you receive such an email, it is fraudulent. Call us on our published number.
• Verify by phone before every transfer. Confirm the account details verbally using the number on our website or your client care letter, not a number in the email you are checking.
• Send a small test payment first. Transfer £1 and confirm with us by phone that it has arrived before sending the balance.
• Secure your own email. Use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication. Most diversion fraud starts with a compromised client email account, not a compromised solicitor.
• Avoid public Wi-Fi for anything involving your bank or your conveyancer.
• Slow down on completion day. Fraudsters rely on the urgency of the moment. Our guide to completion day and how to prepare for it explains the timeline so you know exactly when funds are genuinely needed.

5. Conduct thorough due diligence

The legal work your conveyancer does is itself a fraud check. As part of the process, whether we are acting for the seller or the buyer, we will:

• Check the validity of the title to the property and the identity of the registered owner.
• Prepare and review the contract for sale.
• Carry out conveyancing searches to identify restrictions, charges or problems.
• Prepare the transfer documents that pass legal ownership to you.

You can add to this yourself:

• Verify the professionals. Check that a solicitor is on the Solicitors Regulation Authority register and that an estate agent belongs to a redress scheme. Fraudsters clone the websites of real firms, so check the contact details on the regulator’s site rather than the firm’s own.
• Question urgency and bargains. Be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true or come with pressure to complete quickly.
• Understand what you are buying. Before committing, make sure you understand the legal position, including any property covenants that affect the land.

6. Source of funds checks protect you too

Your solicitor is legally required to establish where the money for your purchase has come from. Expect to be asked for bank statements showing your deposit accumulating, evidence of any sale proceeds, and documentation for any money received from family. This can feel intrusive, but it serves two purposes: it satisfies anti-money laundering rules, and it makes it far harder for a fraudster to run a transaction through a legitimate firm.

Gifted deposits attract the closest attention. The person giving the money will need to provide identification and confirm the gift in writing, and your lender will want to know about it too. Our guide to gifted deposits and how they work sets out exactly what to prepare so that the checks do not hold up your purchase.

7. Implement additional protective measures

• Dispose of documents securely. Shred anything containing personal information, bank details or property correspondence.
• Monitor your credit report for searches or accounts you do not recognise.
• Limit what you share online. Fraudsters build impersonation profiles from social media.
• Landlords: run proper tenant referencing, including identity and right to rent checks, and keep your own contact details with the Land Registry current.
• Empty properties: make them appear occupied and ask a neighbour or managing agent to keep an eye on them. Long periods empty are a fraud risk and can also devalue your property.

8. Know what to do if you suspect fraud

If you think you are, or have been, the victim of property fraud:

• Contact Action Fraud and report it.
• Notify HM Land Registry, who may be able to stop a fraudulent application before it is registered.
• Alert your solicitor and your bank so protective measures can be put in place.
• Gather the evidence: emails, letters and any details of who you have been dealing with.
• Act within hours, not days. If you have transferred money to what you now believe is a fraudulent account, contact your bank immediately and ask them to invoke the banking protocol. Funds can sometimes be frozen if the report is made quickly enough.

About Us

With five partners and over 90 staff based in Stockport, Gorvins Residential’s specialist teams act for individuals and companies buying, selling, transferring and remortgaging property across the North West. Our expertise extends to local market insight, including our breakdown of the Stockport property market by postcode district.

If you are looking for a solicitor for buying a house, or you would like to understand how the new TA6 form and what sellers must disclose is improving transparency for buyers, please call us on 0161 930 5350 or email enquiries@gorvinsresi.com.