Friend Defrauded of Mortgage Deposit

LazyT

So my buddy here received an email from his solicitor yesterday morning, telling him his chain was ready to move forward, and they needed 10% desposit transferring at once.

He asked them to check, as 5% was agreed, after which they replied and confirmed.

He then transferred the funds, almost 18k (10k from Bank, 8k from ISA) and called to check they had received.

Except they hadn't, as the solicitor had been hacked and the scammer was perfectly mimicking the entire email format and address.

My question, to anyone here who knows, if where does he stand on this if he voluntarily transferred the cash out of each account?

DCFC79

Best off speaking to the bank but I suspect he won't get it back.
You would need to look OP but was there not new regulations concerning this sort of thing ?

agrinnall

It's a very well known scam, never rely 100% on an email coming from a solicitor, follow it up with a phone call to make sure it's genuine.


He needs to report it to the bank, the solicitor and the police. It's possible, but unlikely, that the money is still where it was sent to and can be frozen and returned. And if the solicitor was negligent in allowing their email account to be hacked it may be possible to hold them partly or fully liable.

garth549

Very sorry to hear this, incredibly distressing. He needs to contact his bank immediately (like this second) to report this and see if it's possible to recall any of the funds.

Bank transfers cannot usually be reversed. In case of fraud they can sometimes recover some of the funds, however fraudsters will usually empty an account the instant a payment arrives so there's little hope I'm afraid.

dunstonh

I'm surprised his solicitor didnt warn him of this as it is a very common scam. The solicitor we used warned us of the scam and sent us the bank details in the post rather than by email.

And if the solicitor was negligent in allowing their email account to be hacked it may be possible to hold them partly or fully liable.

It isnt hacking though. Its usually spoofing.

Socajam

In this day and age where scammers are everywhere, all it would have taken is one phone call to verify this.
People need to stop taking email as gospel and remember that they are evil people out there who are looking for an easy pay check.
Hope things work out for him

garth549

dunstonh wrote: »

I'm surprised his solicitor didnt warn him of this as it is a very common scam. The solicitor we used warned us of the scam and sent us the bank details in the post rather than by email.
.

Ours too. Every email and every letter stated in bold letters at the bottom "Our bank details will not change over the course of this transaction. If you are in any doubt please phone us to confirm our bank details when you are ready to make a transfer. We cannot be held liable if you transfer funds into the wrong account."

18cc

Yes your friend will get it back as long as he has not been grossly negligent (caveat: as long as the bank is signed up to the scheme - see article for a list). Tell your friend to ask the bank to refund him. But then again, I am sure he has been in contact with his bank (well who wouldn't...) and will have been told this by the bank.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48385426

LazyT

Looking like it was the lawyer who was hacked first now, and then he was targeted and spoofed - which I think is going to compound things. A check of his Sent Items confirmed this.

Agree about a call etc, but hindsight is a powerful tool. No use to him now.

The banks are on the case etc, as are the Police, but obviously he is fairly fraught - he is a first time buyer which explains the eagerness to see it over the line.

eskbanker

DCFC79 wrote: »

Best off speaking to the bank but I suspect he won't get it back.
You would need to look OP but was there not new regulations concerning this sort of thing ?

Not regulations as such but a voluntary code of practice adopted by most of the major players:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/05/more-protection-for-money-transfer-scam-victims-from-today/

On the face of it, this new code should protect OP's friend, it'll be interesting to hear if it does....

LazyT

eskbanker wrote: »

Not regulations as such but a voluntary code of practice adopted by most of the major players.

On the face of it, this new code should protect OP's friend, it'll be interesting to hear if it does....

Bank account was HSBC, but almost 8k from an ISA with Virgin.

So I guess we will see. The lawyers are being very cagey about the whole thing, and have said they "need to check" if anything happened at their end, along with whether they have professional endemnity insurance or similar.