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E-mail Scam Warning

(7 Posts)
Pippa000 Thu 20-Sep-18 19:37:12

I am in the process of buying a house. This afternoon I had an e-mail from "my solicitor" addressing me by name telling me that the deposit for exchange needed to be paid. I was suspicious as the grammar and spelling were not correct, but asked them for the account details that I should use for the transfer, these were very different from those I was given earlier in the process, which confirmed by suspicions . I forwarded the e-mails to my solicitor I was informed that this was indeed phishing e-mail and it appeared that their system may had been hacked. However It appears from conversations with friends that this is not an uncommon occurrence and the banks are aware of the problem.

fourormore Thu 20-Sep-18 20:18:47

Well done for not falling for it Pippa
I always post if I come across any scams and the like as a warning to others even though I know many have heard it all before.
However, if it alerts just one person it is worth it!
Good luck with your house buying! flowers

Pippa000 Thu 20-Sep-18 20:40:34

The problem was it was something I was expecting as I am nearing the end of the process and the next step is paying the deposit! Still as you say if one more fraud is foiled it is worth posting

M0nica Fri 21-Sep-18 13:47:30

This is a scam that has been about for several years and some people have lost their whole housing capital.

Builders and their clients have also been caught out this way. So be equally careful if you are building an extension and need to pay a large sum and you are contacted to change the bank details.

homogran Thu 01-Nov-18 14:38:37

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TerriBull Thu 01-Nov-18 15:25:49

This is very scary Pippa, so glad you rumbled it. I've heard about so many horrible scams of this nature, one where a woman who was running a building business had her email account hacked and she thought she was paying one of her suppliers a large sum, when in fact it was a scammer. Businesses have folded, lives have been ruined by pure greed. We all need to be very aware of such deception. Thank you for highlighting your own situation.

Nonnie Thu 01-Nov-18 15:26:36

Yes, been around a long time. When we moved I rang the solicitor for details of the bank account to pay into just as a precaution. I also did it a bit at a time from my online banking as there is a daily limit. Each day they let me know how much they had received.