Strange email from Zoopla!

mrssaver_2

So, my OH and I are in the process of selling our home - privately without an agent. We are in the very early stages of this process and indeed the purchaser's Solicitors don't even have the deeds to the house yet as we are still awaiting them from the bank. It's fair to say that completion will be around four weeks away, at least.

Many years ago when we first thought about selling up, I signed up to Zoopla to keep an eye on the property prices in our area and now and again I get the odd email from them.

Today I received an email headed "Congratulations - we heard you're moving!".

Now, we haven't told some of our closest friends and family that we are selling up, so how the heck do Zoopla know? :eek:

Feeling a little freaked out here...

Davesnave

Are you in the process of buying as well as selling?

mrssaver_2

No we're not buying another property, just selling.

Running_Horse

Reply and ask them?

Davesnave

You've requested deeds from the bank and probably instructed a solicitor, while the potential purchasers have informed their solicitor they're buying your house, so there are already three possible sources for the information to leak into the wider world.

londonlydia

Have you recently been using your computer a lot for searching on advice how to sell? I suspect it's a case of these linked browsing/ google ads triggering zoopla. You get it with Facebook too, so that if you've been browsing a sofa say, you suddenly get recommended pages of interior design companies.

davidmcn

Davesnave wrote: »

You've requested deeds from the bank and probably instructed a solicitor, while the potential purchasers have informed their solicitor they're buying your house

And applied for a mortgage, probably. Though not sure which of those parties is likely to have breached client confidentiality by telling Zoopla.

mrssaver_2

Nope, haven't been researching how to sell the house or anything like that.

I've been signed up to Zoopla for years now, just to keep an eye on property prices in the area, so how they know that we are in the process of selling is beyond me.

I can't imagine information leaking out from either the Solicitors or our bank/their bank as absolutely nothing has been signed and it is very, very early days yet.

It's all very odd!

Audrey_Wright

I'd go with the Internet suggestion. There are tonnes and tonnes of ways to leak out information while browsing. The mere fact you use Google Chrome (if you do) means you're leaking out information to Google.
Other than that, chats, emails, search queries (like suggested) are all sources of information to be tapped.
I wouldn't be surprised to see this. I've been dealing with the Internet long enough to know that no information online, or even offline is secure.
I suggest you download a malware detection software and check your computer(s) if you have anything attached to your system.

Other than that, don't freak out. Schemes like that have been used for ages, in order to gain an advantage in the marketing and commercial fields. You simply never detected it so far and it's a bit weird, but no harm should come to you.

As far as the other option of personally leaking information. It's in neither's interest to do so, as the benefits they might gain are far less than the potential harm that can come to them in the form of law suits..

mrssaver_2

As I said though, everything to do with the sale has been done offline - no chat, browsing, searching or anything remotely to do with selling the house done online at all. We are very clued up as to what's involved in selling so there's been no need to look up anything at all on the internet.

Even if we were, all our security etc is totally secure and up to date.

Anyhow, I've fired off an email to Zoopla so will await their response.