With cybercrime on the rise, it is more important than ever that conveyancing solicitors have the correct protection in place to prevent loss of client money.
Only last month Lawyer Checker reported that their Checker Account & Entity Screen check prevented criminals from stealing £375,000 from a property law firm based in the South-East of England.
This occurred when a hoax email pretending to be from a vendor solicitor firm was identified as corrupt when conveyancing specialists checked details using the Checker Account & Entity Screen search.
Lawyer Checker’s Account & Entity Screen search allowed the conveyancing firm to easily and efficiently check whether the bank details included in the requisitions sent by the ‘vendor’ were valid.
Fortunately, on this occasion, it was within the firm’s policy to carry out an Account & Entity Screen search with both Lawyer Checker and a check of their safe list. But the number of situations is increasing dramatically where firms risk losing thousands as a result of these scams.
Marie Turrell, Conveyancing Executive at Hayward Moon, said:
“All I could think of were the consequences on me and our firm if we had not used Lawyer Checker as a matter of course.”
Before releasing funds, what checks does your firm make? Lawyer Checker allows solicitors and conveyancers to check the previous use of client accounts to which they are sending funds. This search has been designed to protect client money, irrespective of them being the lender or borrower, and reduces uncertainty in identifying the legitimacy of the vendor conveyancer to enable you to assess the risk associated with the transaction.
Lisa Summerton, Sales Director, at Searches UK said:
“I would highly recommend conveyancing solicitors consider Lawyer Checker’s search to tackle the increasing risk of vendor conveyancer fraud.
“It is the responsibility of conveyancers to be diligent and well informed to protect your client’s funds and assets. That is why Searches UK provides this essential search, which can easily be added to your conveyancing search bundles.”
Searches UK can offer Lawyer Checker to all clients ordering searches, which will allow firms to gather information on the conveyancer to which they are sending money to and better assess the risk associated with the transaction.
All solicitors and conveyancers should reassess the checks they have in place before they send money to any organisations offering undertakings.
For more information about Searches UK Lawyer Checker or to view a sample of this search report, please click here.
For more information about any of the products and services from Searches UK visit their website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+. Alternatively call them directly on 0800 043 1815 or email them at info@searchesuk.co.uk to speak to one of their dedicated team today.
This article was submitted to be published by Searches UK as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
