Homebuyers’ fraud threat

A QUARTER of people moving home have put themselves at real risk of fraud by sharing sensitive personal information by email, according to research from compliance technology group Thirdfort.

It said that despite the rise in the number of emails being intercepted by hackers, a quarter of adults shared information like their bank details with a conveyancer, estate agent or mortgage broker that way.

Thirdfort noted that half harboured concerns about using email to share personal information and that those fears drove a third to delivering details to estate agents, conveyancers or mortgage broker in person.

Olly Thornton-berry, co-founder and managing director at Thirdfort, said: “Despite being concerned about the fraud risks, many homebuyers are still sharing personal information over email. This leaves them open to fraud. Yet there are more secure ways of sharing data online, and agents and conveyancers must offer homebuyers access to these secure methods.”

As an example, people can use twofactor authentication methods to send data securely online, he pointed out.

Last month Action Fraud urged people to be more cautious online, after revealing criminals had used hacked emails and social media account scams to steal £1.3million last year.

Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to steal from people and according to UK Finance, one growing threat is Automatic Transfer System fraud, which it said now accounts for up to 30 per cent of fraud attempts at one large bank.

ATS fraud starts with criminals planting malware on a computer via email phishing or SMS messages, which is called “smishing”. The malware attaches itself to the payment operation of a targeted mobile or web application, modifying it without anyone noticing, to redirect funds to the criminal’s account. The malware then deletes any evidence of its involvement in the transaction, making it difficult to spot.