‘Friday afternoon fraud’: warning for UK homebuyers on bank scams
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.
- "Friday afternoon fraud" tricks homebuyers into paying scammers' bank accounts
- 140 property fraud cases cost an average £78,393 each in 2024-25
- Always verify solicitors' bank details by phone before transferring money
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Conveyancing fraud, sometimes called "Friday afternoon fraud," is a scam that targets people buying or renting property, or dealing with an estate after someone's death. Criminals gain access to email exchanges between a buyer and their solicitor or estate agent, then send a message that looks genuine, asking for money to be sent to a different bank account. Because property deals involve large sums, even a small number of successful scams can net criminals a substantial amount.
The fraud is tracked in the UK through Report Fraud, the body formerly known as Action Fraud, which records how often it happens and how much money is lost. Solicitors, estate agents and banks are all involved in property transactions and are therefore potential points where a scam email could be intercepted or impersonated, though the criminals themselves operate outside these organisations. Police forces, including the City of London force, which leads on fraud in the UK, monitor and respond to reports of this kind of crime.
This matters because a successful scam can mean a buyer loses their entire deposit or purchase price, often with no way to recover the money, and because such large financial transactions are typically irreversible once sent. The warning is intended to help people recognise the signs before money changes hands, rather than to describe a single new incident.