Scammers are on the rise, with many criminals using the cost-of-living crisis to pounce on vulnerable people with hard-to-spot scams. Did you know that searches for 'property scam' have gone up by 909% according to Google Trends data? And these types of cons are estimated to cost innocent people around £216 million.
Chief Operating Officer Jack Malnick at Sold.co.uk has revealed scammers are targeting home owners and renters, so he's put together a guide to the most common property scams – and most importantly, how to avoid them!
Read on to find out more…
Conveyancing fraud when buying a property
This is also known as 'Friday afternoon fraud' and it involves a criminal hacking the email of a buyer, or their conveyancer. The hacker contacts the buyer, posing as the solicitor, and gives them fake bank details for them to transfer their deposit into.
These scammers can take months to strike, monitoring the emails until they have a suitable opportunity to attack. They often gain access to email accounts through data leaks and use software to scan for keywords like 'house sale' or 'conveyancing' - ensuring you have a different password for everything is important to minimise the risk of hacks.
Keep an eye on the email addresses and watch out for small changes like a letter being removed or a full stop being added - subtle things that could easily go unnoticed. Before transferring your whole deposit to your conveyancer, do some checks to make sure you have the legitimate bank details and you're not sending everything to a scammer. Send them a small amount, like £1, and call them on their registered phone number to make sure they have received it, and only send the full deposit once this has been confirmed.
Fake property buyers and sellers
Fake buyers can pretend to make an offer on your property and withdraw it right before completing, and they use the information they gathered in the offer process to commit title fraud. This is where the scammer changes the title deeds of the property into their name and can then apply for loans using your home as collateral.
If an unfortunate homeowner hasn't spotted that their title deeds have been changed into a scammers name, a potential buyer could be at risk of getting scammed too. Most at risk of being a victim of this type of scam are homes that are empty due to the owner living abroad, or properties without a mortgage, properties that are rented out, and people who have previously had their identity stolen. Once in their name, scammers can try and sell the property without you even noticing.
READ: 28 easy tricks to make your home sell fast without spending a penny
You can sign up to HM Land Registry property alerts, which will let you know if anyone tries to change the register of your property so you can take action. You can also put a restriction on your title, so that HM Land Registry can't register a sale unless a solicitor or conveyancer confirms that the application was made by you. HM Land Registry prevented 46 fraudulent applications in 2021-2022, with an estimated value of just over £31 million. This is an 84% increase since 2017-2018, when they recorded 24 cases.
Fake holiday homes
People have also fallen victim to scams when trying to buy a holiday home overseas. Villas and apartments are advertised on sites like Facebook and eBay using photos taken from legitimate estate agent websites, and then the scammer will ask for a deposit before you’re able to go and see the property. In some cases, you could be convinced to pay the full amount without seeing it in person, because the scammer pressures you to act fast by telling you someone else is about to purchase it.
Do a reverse image search online to see if the photos have been used elsewhere – if they're linked to an estate agent, contact them directly. Plus, don't send any money until you've seen the property for yourself and have confirmed that it is real, and really for sale.
Fake landlords
Fake landlord scams are taking advantage of the housing crisis, and advertising properties on sites like Gumtree and SpareRoom that don't exist. They rely on people needing somewhere to move into as soon as possible, and not having time to go and view the property in person. They may even send a tenancy agreement to make it seem legitimate, but then after you've sent them a deposit and first month's rent, they are not heard from again. You may even arrive at the property and find someone else living there, who has no knowledge of it being rented out.
Never send money to a landlord without seeing the property for yourself, or otherwise confirming that the listing is legitimate and definitely available for rent.
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Fake renter competition
Landlords can try and pressure you into paying more than necessary by enlisting the help of a friend. The landlord gets someone to attend an open viewing and appear interested in the property that you want, offering slightly more for a deposit. If you’re interested in the property too, you might be pressured into offering an even higher deposit to secure the listing.
By law in England, deposits are capped and can only be up to five weeks rent. Make sure you don’t pay any more than is actually legal.
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