UK homebuyers are being warned about "conveyancing fraud", also known as "Friday afternoon fraud", in which criminals intercept email chains between buyers and their solicitors or estate agents to trick victims into transferring deposits or purchase funds into fraudulent bank accounts. The scam typically occurs at the end of a property sale, often timed before a weekend, and exploits the large sums involved in property transactions, meaning fraudsters need only a few successful hits to profit substantially.

According to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud), 3,657 scams involving misdirected bank payments were recorded in 2025-26, costing victims £101m in total, with 140 property-related cases logged between April 2024 and March 2025 at an average loss of £78,393; one Guardian-reported case saw a buyer lose the entire £300,000 purchase price. City of London police note the fraud also affects renters and probate transactions, not just purchases, and advise verifying bank details by phone, securing email accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authentication, avoiding public wifi for email, and heeding bank warnings about mismatched account names before transferring funds.