How do I make sure my house deposit reaches my conveyancer?
House purchase transfers are the largest payments most people ever make and are targeted deliberately. The verification routine that stops the attack, and what to do in the first minutes if you have already sent money.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 8 min
- Read
- 4 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Never take bank details from an email, even one that appears to come from your conveyancer. Telephone the firm on a number from their website or your original engagement letter — not a number in the email — and read the details back to them. Send a small test payment first, confirm receipt by phone, then send the balance. If you have already sent money to the wrong account, phone your bank immediately and ask them to invoke the banking protocol.
Criminals monitor email traffic between buyers, agents and conveyancers, then send a message at the exact moment the money is due, from an address that differs from the real one by a character or two, saying the account details have changed. The timing is what makes it work: the buyer is expecting that email and is under pressure to complete. Nothing about the message looks wrong, and the money is gone within minutes of arriving.
Safety
Step by step
- Agree the verification method at the start, in person or by phone.At your first meeting or call with the conveyancer, agree that bank details will never be changed by email and that you will always ring to confirm before sending. Write down the phone number you will use then, while you know it is genuine.
- Take the firm's phone number from an independent source.Their website, the Law Society or Council for Licensed Conveyancers register, or your original engagement letter. Never a number in the email that gave you the bank details — fraudsters supply both.
- Ring and read the details back.Do not ask them to confirm details you send; read out the sort code and account number you are about to use and have them confirm each digit. Ask for the name on the account too.
- Use the account name check your bank offers.UK banks check the payee name against the account and warn you if it does not match. Do not click through a mismatch warning. A close-but-not-exact match on a payment this size is a stop signal, not a formality.
- Send a small test payment first.One pound, then telephone the firm to confirm it arrived in the right client account, then send the balance. It adds ten minutes and it is the single most effective control available to you.
- Be suspicious of any change, urgency or apology.'Our account has changed', 'use these details instead', 'we need it today or completion will fail'. Genuine firms do change banks occasionally, and they will not mind you ringing to check. Fraudsters rely on you not wanting to seem difficult.
- Watch the return leg too.Sellers are targeted the other way round, with a fake email purporting to be from the seller changing where the sale proceeds should be sent. Give your conveyancer your account details in person or by phone, and expect them to verify them with you.
- Act within minutes if it goes wrong.Phone your bank's fraud line immediately and ask them to contact the receiving bank. Then tell your conveyancer, and report it to Action Fraud, or to Police Scotland if you are in Scotland. Speed is the only thing that ever recovers funds.
Tips
- Write your conveyancer's phone number down on paper at the start of the transaction. It is the one thing a fraudster cannot edit.
- Tell your conveyancer you will always send a test payment first. Good firms welcome it and some ask for it.
- If anything feels rushed, stop and ring. No genuine firm will hold a completion failure against a client who verified a payment.
Common mistakes
- Ringing the number in the email to check — If the email is fraudulent, so is the number. The verification is only worth anything if the number came from somewhere the criminal does not control.
- Rushing because completion is today — Time pressure is the mechanism of the attack, not an accident of timing. A completion delayed by an hour is recoverable; a diverted deposit usually is not.
If it doesn't work
An email says the client account details have changed
Cause: The single most common form of the attack — Fix: Do not reply to the email. Ring the firm on an independently obtained number and ask whether it is genuine. Forward the email to them afterwards so they can warn other clients.
The bank's name check says the payee does not match
Cause: Either a legitimate trading-name difference or a fraudulent account — Fix: Stop and ring the firm. Ask for the exact registered name on the client account. Do not proceed on a mismatch you have not personally resolved by phone.
You have already sent the money to the wrong account
Cause: Payment diversion fraud — Fix: Phone your bank's fraud line at once — minutes matter — and ask them to invoke the banking protocol and contact the receiving bank. Then tell your conveyancer and report to Action Fraud, or Police Scotland in Scotland.
Questions people ask
Would my conveyancer ever email me bank details?
Many do send them in the engagement pack at the outset, which is why the rule is not 'never accept details by email' but 'never act on them without a phone verification', and never accept a change of details at all without ringing.
Will my bank refund me?
Reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud have tightened and many victims are now reimbursed, but outcomes vary with the circumstances and there are limits and exceptions. Report immediately, keep every message, and do not assume you are covered.
Is a test payment really worth it?
Yes. It is the one control that verifies the destination rather than the message, and it costs a pound and a phone call against a six-figure risk.
Should I use email at all for the transaction?
It is unavoidable in practice. The point is not to stop using email but to make sure that no financial instruction is ever acted on because it arrived by email.