How Can Homebuyers Stop Friday Afternoon Fraud Before Sending Their Completion Money?

Conveyancing payment-diversion fraud exploits the exact moment a buyer is under pressure to complete, with losses often large enough to wipe out a deposit.

If you are about to send a house deposit, pause before you trust the latest email in the chain. Friday afternoon fraud succeeds because a criminal can make one changed bank account look routine. Verify the destination independently, even if the message appears to come from your solicitor. Ten seconds on the phone can protect a transfer worth tens of thousands of pounds.

At a glance

• City of London Police figures circulated in a fraud alert — 143 conveyancing-fraud cases were reported between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, including 140 residential cases losing £10.97m.
• The Guardian — the 140 residential property cases averaged £78,393 lost per case.
• The Guardian — 3,657 payment-diversion scams involving money sent to the wrong account were reported in 2025-26, with total losses of about £101m.
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers guidance — buyers should never rely solely on emailed bank details and should confirm payment instructions by calling a known genuine number.
• Payment Systems Regulator — mandatory APP-fraud reimbursement applies to eligible Faster Payments and CHAPS claims up to £85,000, subject to scope and exceptions.
• Fraudsters often sit inside a compromised email chain until a deposit or completion payment is due, then substitute their own bank account.
• Any late change of bank details should be treated as suspicious until confirmed through a separate, trusted contact method.
• Call your conveyancer on a number you already know before sending money; do not use the phone number in the suspicious email.
• If you have sent money to a scam account, contact your bank immediately because speed can determine whether funds can be frozen or recalled.

How does Friday afternoon fraud intercept a house purchase?

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers describes a familiar pattern: criminals gain access to an email account used by a buyer, seller, estate agent or conveyancer and quietly monitor the transaction. They wait until exchange or completion is close, when everyone expects urgent messages and large transfers. A convincing email then provides “updated” bank details controlled by the fraudster. The wording may match earlier correspondence because the attacker has read the chain. Once the buyer authorises the transfer, the money can be split across other accounts before anyone notices.

What should you do before sending completion money?

Create a verification routine before the stressful final day. Save your conveyancer’s genuine telephone number from the original engagement letter or official website and use that number to confirm the account name, sort code and account number verbally. Do not trust a number contained in an email telling you the bank details have changed. The Law Society and CLC both warn that unusual or last-minute changes deserve extra scrutiny. Some buyers send a small test amount first, but a test payment is only useful if the recipient confirms it through a trusted channel.

Does your bank have to refund you?

For eligible authorised push payment scams made through Faster Payments or CHAPS, mandatory reimbursement rules introduced in October 2024 generally require payment providers to reimburse victims up to £85,000 per claim, subject to the scheme’s scope and exceptions. Banks can apply an excess of up to £100 in many cases, and claims can be refused where the customer acted with gross negligence. Vulnerable consumers receive additional protection. The key point is that reimbursement is not unlimited, and a conveyancing transfer can exceed the statutory cap.

What if the loss is above £85,000?

That is where property fraud remains uniquely dangerous. City of London Police figures showed an average residential conveyancing-fraud loss of £78,393 in 2024-25, already close to the reimbursement ceiling, while individual completion payments can be much larger. A bank may choose to reimburse more than the mandatory maximum, and other routes may exist depending on whether a regulated professional’s systems were compromised or instructions were mishandled, but those outcomes are fact-specific. Buyers should not assume professional indemnity insurance automatically covers a payment they personally authorised to a fraudster.

What should you do if you realise immediately?

Call the sending bank’s fraud team at once and say the payment was induced by a scam. Ask it to contact the receiving bank and attempt to freeze or recall funds. Then notify the conveyancer using a verified phone number, secure the email account, change passwords and enable two-factor authentication. Report the incident to Report Fraud and preserve the fraudulent emails, headers, account details and screenshots. Do not continue engaging with the scammer, especially if they claim they can recover the money for another fee.

What happens next

Banks and conveyancing firms are under growing pressure to make high-value transfers harder to redirect, but the scam works because the final authorisation still looks like a legitimate customer instruction. Report Fraud data shows the losses remain substantial despite years of warnings. The safest habit is deliberately old-fashioned: verify bank details by speaking to the real conveyancer on a number you already hold. When a house purchase is moving fastest, slowing one payment down can be the most valuable step in the transaction.