Gangs hack emails to steal millions from house buyers and sellers

ORGANISED crime gangs are suspected to have stolen more than £10 million by hacking into the emails of people buying and selling houses.

New figures show 91 victims have reported falling prey to the conveyancing fraud. The rewards for the gangs are potentially huge, with each successful scam worth on average more than £112,000.

The problem is escalating, with latest figures showing fraudsters carrying out two successful conveyancing thefts a week, totalling £250,000.

Police admit they have no idea who is behind the frauds but suspect crime syndicates abroad are involved.

The criminals hack into the email chains between sellers and buyers and their solicitors and estate agents. The fraudsters then send an email – usually on the day of sale completion – informing the parties that bank account details have changed at the last minute and that money should be deposited in a different account.

There is no way to tell from the email header that the instruction is fake. The money is then deposited into the specially set up account then transferred electronically by the fraudsters to bank accounts around the world where it becomes impossible to trace. The scam was first highlighted by

The Sunday Telegraph’s Money section last year when a couple described how £340,000 for the sale of their flat was transferred by their solicitor into a criminal’s account. The fraudsters had hacked into the email chain and sent an email to the law firm purporting to be from the vendors explaining that they wanted the money transferred into another account.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which operates the Action Fraud reporting hotline, recorded 91 conveyancing fraud crimes up to last October, the latest month for which figures are available. In September and October alone, 16 cases were reported to Action Fraud – an average of two a week. “The hit is massive,” said Steve Proffitt, deputy head of Action Fraud. “We are getting more and more instances of this. The outcome for the fraudster is tremendous. They can earn £1million on the sale of a house in the South East.”

Police believe the fraudsters use malware to gain access to computers, then pounce at the point of completion or on exchange when deposits are handed over.