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 […]
Recent case highlights importance of source of wealth investigation
Last week the NCA published news of a mother and her two UK-based sons agreeing to hand over their London properties worth more than £1.6 million, in response to a NCA civil recovery claim that linked their purchases with suspected money laundering. Within the details of the case are some key reminders of the type […]
Firms urged to review password hygiene as UK sees 116% increase in nuisance comms
New data from recent reports suggests that despite increased warnings to businesses and individuals to review cyber security measures, phishing scams and nuisance attacks are on the rise. A report released by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in conjunction with litigation firm Griffin Law, reveals that in the first six months of 2021 UK […]
Conveyancing Fraud Red Flags
This week a particularly shocking case of a man’s house being ‘stolen’ was reported by the BBC. The staggering realisation that a person’s house can literally be sold without their knowledge is headline grabbing. But when we look at the way this potential crime could have happened, it’s easy to see when the right circumstances align […]
“Stolen” home highlights ID verification failure
A BBC investigation has uncovered how a homeowner’s identity was stolen resulting in his property being sold with the perpetrator pocketing the £131,000 proceeds of sale. Talking to BBC Radio 4’s “Your and Yours” the Reverend Mike Hall explained how he was working away and had been alerted to the fraud by neighbours who contacted […]
How technology is helping conveyancers tackle money laundering
Money laundering is a growing risk in the UK property market, as the Pandora papers demonstrate. The failure of some conveyancers and estate agents to properly verify buyers’ identities, and comply with the relevant AML regulations, means they risk supporting the laundering of dirty money. New AI, Open Banking and facial recognition technology can automate […]
Law Society release home buying fraud warning for consumers
Home buyers are being warned about a spike in scams which have seen victims defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Law Society of England and Wales has joined forces with the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), which is housed within the National Crime Agency, and Action Fraud to issue flyers warning of […]
5 providers sign up to “ID Trust Scheme” pilot
Five identity service providers have committed to the new MyIdentity trust scheme to make home buying and selling in the UK a safe digital process. The five identity service providers are: Digidentity, Nuggets, OBiD, Thirdfort, and Yoti. Their involvement assures consumers will have fully inclusive choices to prove their identity. The hub service provider is […]
AML update – the focus on AML is going nowhere anytime soon!
Our latest quarterly update webinar started with a view of the current anti-money laundering landscape including: The release of the Pandora papers, which have shown even more the extent to which the mega-rich employ different ways in which to hide their money and avoid paying tax on it; of particular concern to authorities is the […]
Current AML regime “does little to prevent money laundering”
Changes to the money laundering regulations should focus on increasing the effectiveness of efforts to tackle money laundering through a more risk-based and proportionate approach, said the Law Society of England and Wales in response to HM Treasury’s (HMT) call for evidence. The Call for Evidence is now closed and will consider the overall effectiveness […]
Estate agents should do more to tackle conveyancing fraud
A leading compliance specialist in the estate agency market has suggested that estate agents should be doing more to support efforts to complete customer due diligence and tackle money laundering. Compliance Officer for The Guild of Property Professionals, Paul Offley, has said that agents should be following “best practice” to establish the legal/beneficial owner of […]
Failure to introduce “proper risk assessments” number one AML failure
A review completed by the Solicitors Regulations Authority into law firm anti-money laundering failures has identified a 40% increase in the number of potential AML breaches reported to the SRA, with the number one area of non-compliance is not having a proper risk assessment in place for AML matters. The SRA has published its first […]
