This may sound ridiculous, but it is possible. As we all know, there are fraudsters out there trying to trick us into divulging our personal details, stealing our identities and then helping themselves to our hard-earned cash and property.
Those of us lucky enough to own properties mortgage free, particularly a buy-to-let or holiday home, which may be unoccupied, are especially vulnerable to this type of fraud, but it could affect anyone.
The Land Registry and solicitors are on the front line of this battle in many ways. Ever wondered why it is now commonplace to receive a call from a solicitor to check banking details before sending out money? It’s because fraudsters have become quite adept at intercepting e-mail accounts, posing as the genuine client and providing bank account details hoping an unwary law firm will pay the sale proceeds of the genuine client’s house into their fraudulent account. Unless these frauds are detected quickly it can very difficult to recover the money.
In some extreme case that you may have read about in the newspapers, fraudsters have managed to trick unwary solicitors into believing they are the true owner of a property by stealing personal details of the true owner and finding out details of their property. The fraudsters have then gone through the conveyancing process and made off with the sale proceeds in what otherwise appeared to the solicitor to be a totally normal transaction. Meanwhile, the true owner was blissfully unaware of what was going on until it was too late. It’s a scary world out there!
So that is why I have signed up to the Land Registry alert service that notifies me (by e-mail) if there is any activity concerning my property, such as the sorts of searches that one would undertake as part of the sale process. All you need to do is sign in and create an account at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert, search for your property (all you need is your address and postcode) and then sit back and relax. You can register up to 10 properties if you are a property tycoon, or you could just want to look out for your relatives or friends.
If you do receive a notification from the alert service, then it may be something perfectly innocent or even an accident, but we here at Bower Bailey can tell you immediately if you are about to become part of an elaborate scam or hopefully reassure you that it’s nothing to worry about.
Please share this information, as the more people who sign up to this alert system, the better equipped we are to help protect your property interests against fraud and safeguard your rights as legitimate property owners.
