PLEASE BE AWARE CYBER CRIME IS ON THE INCREASE.

 IF YOU ARE OUR CLIENT WE WOULD HAVE PROVIDED YOU WITH OUR BANK DETAILS AND WILL NEVER EMAIL YOU TO ADVISE YOU THOSE DETAILS HAVE CHANGED OR ASK YOU TO SEND MONEY TO AN ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNT.  

FOR AVOIDANCE OF ANY DOUBT, PLEASE CONTACT OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT TO CHECK OUR BANK DETAILS BEFORE SENDING ANY MONEY.  WE WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU TRANSFER MONEY TO THE WRONG ACCOUNT. 

IF YOU ARE DUE MONIES, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO INFORM US OF YOUR BANK DETAILS IN WRITING AND NOT BY E MAIL. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR MALICIOUS OR FRAUDULENT EMAILS PURPORTEDLY COMING FROM OUR FIRM, AND THAT IT IS THE RECIPIENT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT ANY EMAILS OR ATTACHMENTS COMING FROM OUR FIRM ARE GENUINE BEFORE OPENING OR RELYING ON ANYTHING CONTAINED WITHIN THEM.

Your property is probably the most valuable asset you own, so when it comes to buying, selling or re-mortgaging, you need to make sure that your transaction is safe to protect yourself against fraud.

At VJ Nathan Solicitors, we are all too aware of the growing threat of cyber related crime and impersonation fraud to both our clients and to our business. We are committed to doing everything we can to assist in helping our clients keep safe. 

This guide has been prepared to outline what you should expect from us at VJ Nathan and what you can do to assist us during your transaction to help us both avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

GUIDANCE FOR YOU

We will provide you with our bank details in our letter of engagement at the outset of your transaction. These will be sent by post or can be hand delivered or collected.

We will not amend our bank details which have been previously provided to you by email, and we never link directly to our internet banking log on page, or to a page that asks for any security or personal details. 

If you receive bank details by email, the email is likely to be fraudulent, so do not call the number listed in the email. Instead, please call us immediately using a verified landline telephone number i.e., listed on our home page or on ‘Our People’ page on our website.

Whether you are a new client or an existing client, we will generally ask you to bring original documents into our main office in person, so that we can carry out an identity check. 

For purchase transactions, we will ask you for proof of funds – generally, you will be asked to provide your bank statements to show us  where your funds are held, and an explanation of how the funds have accrued. Further evidence may be required – providing this at the outset will help to avoid any delays later in the transaction.

If you are buying an empty or tenanted property, you must tell us so that we can raise further enquiries to make sure that the seller is verified as the true owner of the property.

If you do need to send sensitive information to us by email, do not indicate what that information might be in the email’s subject line. Consider splitting the information over one or more emails, and / or splitting it between one or more type of message – e.g., email plus text or phone call.

It can often be a good idea to transfer a small payment first to test our account details at VJ Nathan Solicitors, then call us to ensure it has arrived safely, before going through with the final transaction. We are always happy to cooperate with such an arrangement.

• Do not send your bank details by email or by phone to anyone. You post your  bank details to our main offices.
• We do not normally accept cash payments, and do not accept more than £500 cash at any one time. In the rare circumstance than you need to make payment to us in cash you need to bring the details in person to our main offices by prior appointment.
• VJ Nathan Solicitors is registered with the Law Society and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and we are listed on both websites should you wish to check.
• We always check that solicitors on the other side of a transaction are genuine by checking they are registered on the Law Society website. If you require we can also carry out an electronic search using a search/validation tools on purchase transactions, prior to completion, and can advise you of the costs for these additional checks.
• Read anything sent to you by your conveyancer very carefully. Our bank details have not changed in very many years, and are not scheduled to change. If ever in any doubt, please just give us a call using a verified telephone number to put your mind at rest.
• We will never apply pressure to push you to proceed quickly or send you urgent warning messages. Be vigilant, fraudsters will often use this tactic.

Unfortunately, criminals are not only stealing identities of individuals; there have been instances where legitimate law firms have been accurately cloned to steal purchase funds.

In order to protect both you and your lender from this threat, it is our policy in every single purchase transaction to verify the identity of your seller’s conveyancer and their firm. Once again further electronic checks can be carried out at an additional coast if you desire. 

Such electronic checks allow your solicitor / conveyancer to check the bank details of the seller’s conveyancer’s firm are genuine against a database of previous conveyancing transactions, and that the firm is a recognised practice known for carrying out conveyancing transactions. 

The results provided by the service help to better assess any risks associated with sending on your money. 

This additional check provides an additional layer of protection for you and your money over and above the Law Society’s recommended procedures.

We proactively monitor the risk levels in every transaction that we undertake, not only at the start of the matter, but also throughout the course of the transaction, ensuring that should any of the “warning signs” flag up during the course of your purchase, that these are flagged up and further investigations are carried out.

TIPS TO REDUCE THE RISKS OF FALLING VICTIM TO FRAUD

Working with your solicitor / conveyancer is a two-way street. No matter how good and safe we are, if you are not as vigilant, you are at risk to having your emails hacked or becoming a victim to property fraud.

Internet and social media

• Consider access restrictions and how much you ‘share’ with people
• Do not post any updates on social media in relation to the progress of your transaction (or even that you are engaged in one) – this is how some fraudsters identify when to send a scam email requesting your money.

Malware linked to your computer

• Ensure your virus and malware protection is up to date on your computer, laptop, tablet, and mobile phone. These updates usually contain fixes for security holes.
• Never work as an Administrator on your computer, always log in as a standard user.
• Take a cyber security course, we recommend https://heimdalsecurity.com/security-educationresources for home users and small businesses.

Phishing emails, texts and phone call scams

• Do not respond to emails or text messages that seem too good to be true, and do not open when from unknown or unexpected sources. Take care with ‘official’ looking emails and texts; they too can very often be false
• Be aware of clicking on links in emails or opening documents from people you do not know or from whom you were not expecting an email. Remember, a fraudster could have gained control of your family or friend’s mailbox, and they may now try to infect or target you.
• Double check the email address. Many fraudsters register email addresses that look very similar to a real business to try and defraud you – maybe with just one subtle character difference in the email address.
• Never disclose your personal, bank account, PIN or card details to a stranger.
• Ensure you use complex passwords for each of your online accounts and email. Never use the same password for more than one account. The logic here is that if a fraudster gains access to your email account, then they will also be able to access all of your other accounts if you have used the same password.
• If you have the option to switch on two-factor authentication (or 2FA) which sends you a text code to your mobile phone to further authenticate you when you log in, then do so. This function is available on many email sites, such as Gmail, as well as Apps used by banks, retailers, social media platforms etc. Please go to www.turnon2fa.com for more information. Many recent impersonation attacks could have been prevented by this simple measure.

Online transactions

• Only deal with legitimate firms you can trust as professional and who are known to you.
• Note all transactions you make so you have evidence should something go wrong.

Out and about

• Never use public Wi-Fi to access sensitive accounts, always do it securely from your home.
• Shopping, restaurants and leisure – do not let your debit/credit cards, driving licence and passport out of your sight or leave unsecure.
• Do not disclose personal data where it seems to be an inappropriate request.
• Try to avoid allowing people to oversee or overhear your transactions or conversations.

At home or work

• Telephone or face to face – never reveal either your username or passwords or your personal information to anyone that calls you up. Be vigilant!
• Mail – ensure your mailbox is secure and your post cannot be taken or intercepted. If any post you were expecting does not arrive, make enquiries with the sender and report to the post office and police.
• People around you – take care to consider who may have unnecessary / inappropriate access to your personal information.
• Documents containing your personal information, including statements and bills, should be destroyed or stored safely.
• If you are at all suspicious, then do not call the telephone number in the email, look online for the correct business telephone number and call someone to confirm, and all the better if you know that person. We will always be here and happy to hear from you if you are calling to confirm whether an email is genuine.

If you are making a financial payment to VJ Nathan Solicitors, or receiving one, you should always assume that it is possible for a fraudulent transaction to occur – not that a fraud is unlikely to occur. 

If you make a payment without checking the authenticity of the payment request or account details, we regret that we will not be liable for any losses that you suffer as a result. In such circumstances, you should contact your bank immediately.

We routinely report scam / fraudulent emails to the necessary authorities.