Companies House clamping down as new anti-fraud measures aim to ‘stop the UK from playing host to the world’s scammers’
Companies House has new and enhanced powers to improve the quality and reliability of its data and tackle misuse of the companies register, in a move the CEO has called ‘significant’. The first measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 came into force on today in a bid to tackle fraud, money […]
New service aims to stop payment fraud
A new service will aim to stop payment fraud by verifying the name of a bank account owner with the name of the intended payee. While confirmation of payee is largely default for consumer banking, Cashroom, who have implemented the service within their client portal, say it is a first in legal services. Confirmation of […]
9 month suspended sentence for tipping off
In a first for the legal profession, a solicitor has been handed a 9 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, for “tipping off” a client about a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into the funding of a property purchase. William Osmond, co-founder of Osmond and Osmond Solicitors Ltd, is the first solicitor to be […]
Availability of homeowner data enables title fraud warns tech entrepreneur
The wide availability of home owner data empowers criminals and enables title fraud warns the founder of a new service designed to tackle the issue of property being sold from under the noses of the home owner. John Daw, founder of Title Guardian points to the case of Reverend Mike Hall, whose house was stolen […]
Research reveals the regions at higher risk of property fraud
New research from client compliance platform Thirdfort reveals that the East Midlands, North East, North West and Scotland are the regions of the United Kingdom that may be at higher risk of property fraud. Fraud and fake identity documents are on the rise. Criminals will stop at nothing to bypass controls and use many methods to engage […]
New-style scam alert warning
An outsourced compliance service provider has warned of a new-style scam they have intercepted involving criminals impersonating the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The methodology involves individuals contacting law firms alleging to be from the SRA and asking to attend their offices onsite for a “pre audit meeting.” Contact is made via phone call from a […]
Fines totalling £25,000 highlight risk of non-compliance
Four SRA regulated law firms have fallen foul of Anti-Money Laundering and Transparency regulations and received fines totalling over £25,000. Some of the first published fines are now coming light following the extension of SRA fining powers in July 2022, which empowered the SRA to fine firms for a broad range of offences without having […]
The perils of paying lip service to cyber risk
In this latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast, host David Opie is joined by Emma Green, Managing Partner at Cyber Data Law Solicitors. A regular commentator on national radio and television, Emma is an expert on cyber crime and alongside spending her time educating firms on the perils of cyber attack, has also spent time negotiating with […]
Register of Overseas Entities – what does it mean for conveyancers?
The implementation of a Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) will help law firms tackle the opaque nature of foreign ownership and support efforts to tackle money laundering in the UK property market, says Mike Ward, Executive Chairman of Armalytix on the latest Today’s Conveyancer Podcast Effective today, 1st August, overseas entities are required to provide […]
Open Banking: Protecting conveyancers from fraud
In this Today’s Conveyancer Podcast David Opie is joined by Cashroom’s Chris and Steven O’Day, CEO and Head of Technology respectively and Tom Lyes, Head of Legal at Armalytix. The discussion centres on the opportunity presented by open banking in reducing the risk of fraud across the conveyancing transaction, from initial onboarding through to completion […]
Does ID/AML have to be a drama?
The recent thought-provoking ITV drama “Our Home” highlighted the possible nightmare scenario of going away for a few days and coming back to find strangers moving into your house. A cleverly orchestrated fraud (if a little too simplistic) sees a London home sold fraudulently, demonstrating real challenges that exist in our system if quite simple […]
LMS launches confirmly to safeguard conveyancing process
LMS, the UK’s leading panel management specialist, has announced the launch of confirmly: a fast, trusted and secure law firm identity checking technology, designed to reduce risk and prevent scams when transferring conveyancing funds and client monies. Confirmly provides real time monitoring for law firms by harnessing LMS Panel Link and specialist data to verify bank […]
What is open banking and what does it mean for legal services?
January marked Open Banking’s fourth birthday, but it is still a foreign concept for many, including the legal sector. Questions as to what Open Banking even is, and how it can be applied, remain unanswered. To help shed some light on this, Open Banking experts, Cashroom and Armalytix, tackled some key questions around the applications […]
Home Truths: Financial Crime in the Property Transaction
With criminals becoming ever more sophisticated, it’s critical that property professionals keep up to date to recognise the warning signs of fraud, understand new regulatory obligations and implement working practices that reduce their vulnerability to attack. To raise awareness within the industry, AML and digital ID specialist Thirdfort, is leading a panel discussion with experts […]
Consultation could pave the way for APP fraud refunds
A consultation from the Payment Systems Regulator could see legislation introduced forcing banks to refund those affected by authorised push payment (APP) fraud. APP fraud is typically perpetrated by criminals impersonating trusted individuals and organisations in order to trick people into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal. The criminals will send […]
4 common ways criminals launder money
Money laundering costs the British economy around £37 billion each year. And with the legal sector under increasing scrutiny (and SRA site visits happening right now) it’s something firms should be placing front and centre of their risk planning. A review by the SRA into law firm AML compliance identified the failure to introduce “proper […]
Conveyancers “do enough already”
In response to last week’s article on the auto-enrolment of home movers on to the Land Registry’s Property Alert Service, conveyancers have had their say on Today’s Conveyancer. The article suggested that one way to combat conveyancing fraud in the wake of the case of Rev. Hall whose house was “stolen” by fraudsters, is to […]
Digital identity scheme will cut conveyancing fraud and save on PII
A reduction in ID fraud risks and significant savings on Professional Indemnity Insurance are inevitable if customers use a digital identity scheme during the home buying process, say experts. Stuart Young, chair of the digital identity group, said that conveyancers who adopt the digital identity trust scheme standards could see PII cover reduce by 40 […]
Should conveyancers auto enrol clients onto the Land Registry Property Alert service?
A recent case in which a homeowner had their property “stolen” by a fraudster has placed property fraud at the top of the agenda again for conveyancing firms. The fraud, which was reported on the BBC’s “You and Yours” programme, pocketed the fraudster £131,000 after a fraudster impersonated the legal owner of a property and […]
Diary of a High Street Conveyancer; 8th November 2021
I was all prepared to write about additional enquiries and then I was side-tracked by the news about a house being sold not by the owner but by an ‘imposter.’ The summary of the story is a home owner, Reverend Mike Hall, was alerted to the fact that there was building work being done in […]
