The evolving threat of identity fraud
In this episode of the Today’s Conveyancer podcast, host David Opie welcomes Gavin Burton, Co-founder and trainer at Beruku Knowledge, to discuss the evolving threats of identity fraud, deep fakes, and artificial intelligence in the legal sector. With a distinguished 26-year career in the Metropolitan Police, Gavin led a specialised team focused on ID fraud, […]
‘Misunderstood’ compliance teams facing greater pressures
The role of compliance professionals in law firms is often ‘misunderstood’ by colleagues, leading to misconceptions and a lack of appreciation for their efforts; which are often undertaken at personal cost to individual mental health and wellbeing. Just 15% of compliance professionals consider their role to be perceived as ‘critical and valued’ by colleagues which […]
Mortgage fraud ‘going largely undetected’, with just 17 FCA investigations since 2018
The true scale of mortgage fraud in the UK may be far greater than official enforcement figures suggest, according to data gathered by the client due diligence platform Thirdfort. A Freedom of Information request made by Thirdfort to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed there have been only 17 enforcement investigations into mortgage fraud […]
Fighting fraud in the digital age: What conveyancers need to know in 2025
Fraud is more sophisticated, but so are the tools to stop it. Here’s what every conveyancer should know about risk in 2025. A new wave of fraud The property market has always attracted fraudsters, but in recent years their methods have become smarter and harder to spot. Impersonation fraud, payment redirection scams, and manipulated ID […]
£4 million fine for ‘serious and intentional’ misuse of client funds
The owner and manager of former London-based law firm Kingly Solicitors has been fined over £4 million for ‘serious’ and ‘intentional’ misconduct in the largest penalty the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has ever issued. Nurul Miah, who is not a solicitor, was ordered to pay a financial penalty of £3,984,440, costs of £41,670 and banned […]
£50 billion in 20 years – with only 27p missing
Having celebrated a landmark achievement of 20 years in the conveyancing business, Newport-based Convey Law reflects on transacting £50bn in home moves with head of finance and administration Abby Bater. Abby shares her thoughts on the trials and tribulations of keeping clients and teams safe in today’s fraught conveyancing world, and managing the finances of […]
ABS fined more than £25,000 for AML failings
A Birmingham law firm has been fined more than the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) stated £25,000 for ‘traditional’ firms for anti-money laundering (AML) failures because of it’s status as an alternative business structure (ABS). Tyndallwoods Solicitors, has been fined £27,813 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for failing to implement proper anti-money laundering (AML) measures […]
10 Tips to Prepare Your Clients for Remote ID Checks and Speed up Onboarding
Are you doing enough to prepare your clients for their digital identity checks? As a professional services firm, you may have moved to carrying out your KYC and AML checks remotely, which is saving you time and reducing risk. However, in our experience, the firms that prepare their clients by letting them know what to […]
Cyber security tools for conveyancers from the experts
For all its awfulness, it’s clear there is never a time when conveyancing firms, and their clients, aren’t – at the very least – being considered by fraudsters as a potential target, or actively being probed for areas of weakness, particularly from a cyber point of view. That will not be anything new to conveyancing […]
LSB launches consultation into how regulators will oversee prevention and detection of economic crime
A consultation on how legal regulators, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), can ‘promote the prevention and detection of economic crime’ has been launched by super-regulator, the Legal Services Board (LSB). Launched on 15th November 2024, the consultation will run until 7th February 2025 with the objective to ‘underline […]
“Sharp rise” in interventions prompts client account consultation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched its anticipated consultation on client money in legal services to review whether it remains appropriate for law firms to continue to hold significant funds in their accounts. The regulator announced plans to launch its consultation last week with SRA Chair Anna Bradley saying the reforms would tighten the […]
Enhancing identity verification: How conveyancers can navigate the future UK housing boom
It’s been a sluggish few years for the UK housing market. Data from Nationwide shows market activity has remained broadly flat over the past 12 months, and is 15% lower than pre-Covid levels in 2019. This has naturally led to less work for conveyancers, with data from Search Acumen’s Conveyancing Market Tracker showing that the […]
Bank delays could put paid to simultaneous exchange and completion
Clearly one of the big stories over the last couple of weeks – presuming you are not a civil servant paid more than the Prime Minister stepping down to avoid being the centre of attention – has been the new powers that are going to be afforded to banks to allow them to pause payments […]
Watchdog will name firms under financial investigation
A watchdog has said it will name and shame firms who are under investigation in the name of ‘public interest’, which has been met with furious backlash. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) outlined proposals to release the names of firms who are being investigated for financial breaches. Despite fierce opposition the joint executive director of […]
Ex-Conveyancer launches onboarding platform having secured £500,000 funding
A conveyancing prop-tech has officially launched after securing £500,000 in seed funding, supported by an Innovate UK grant. ProConvey’s digital onboarding solution aims to “transform traditional conveyancing” reduce manual errors, and improve client satisfaction through its platform. It has been developed by ex-conveyancer Chris Scantlebury who began work on the project in January 2023. Having […]
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 […]
