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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Conveyancing is a significant cyber and fraud risk in UK property transactions, especially when criminals divert payments or attacks disrupt law firms and their suppliers. The evidence supports treating it as a serious risk across the transaction chain, but does not establish that it is the single largest cyber threat to the whole UK real-estate sector.
What do the reported figures show?
There is no single dataset that measures all cyber incidents and fraud across UK conveyancing. The figures below count different things: reports of fraud, reports to the regulator, suspicious activity reports, registration applications and affected firms. They should not be combined as if they share one denominator.
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| Measure | Reported figure | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Conveyancing fraud reported to Action Fraud, April 2024–March 2025 | 143 cases; £11.7 million in reported losses | HM Land Registry said the vast majority of cases involved residential transactions. |
| Residential conveyancing among SRA reports in 2024 | Three quarters | A share of reports received by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), not an estimate of all incidents. |
| Firms affected by the 2023 CTS attack | More than 80 firms | The SRA’s 2025 conference presentation describes the reach of an attack on a conveyancing-sector supplier. |
| Fraudulent applications identified in 2024–25 | 86 of 4,429,092 applications—just over 0.0019% | HM Land Registry applications to create or update the Land Register. This is not comparable to reported Action Fraud cases. |
| Property value associated with fraudulent applications prevented in 2024–25 | More than £59 million | HM Land Registry’s estimate of property covered by prevented applications; it is not money stolen. |
| Conveyancing-related instructions among SRA suspicious activity reports, 2024–25 | 73% | SARs submitted by the SRA, reflecting money-laundering reporting rather than a count of cyber incidents. |
| Email among cybercrime reports received by the SRA in 2021 | More than 80% | Historical reporting data published by the SRA in 2022, not a current proportion. |
These figures show why the risk warrants attention, while also illustrating why reported fraud, cyber incidents and financial-crime reporting must be kept distinct.
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How are conveyancing transactions targeted?
Payment diversion and email impersonation
A criminal may impersonate a solicitor, estate agent or buyer, or compromise an email account, then steer a deposit or purchase payment to an account they control. A message may come from a lookalike address or from a genuine account that has been taken over. Attackers can insert altered bank details into an otherwise believable email chain, often at a point when a payment is expected.
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The danger is not limited to obviously suspicious messages: familiar names, a convincing tone or a copied conversation do not prove that payment instructions are genuine.
Property and registration fraud
Property fraud is related to the conveyancing environment but is not the same as payment diversion. Fraudsters may impersonate an owner, buyer, seller, borrower or conveyancer, or use forged identity or other documents to seek an unlawful title transfer or mortgage registration. People who do not live in a property, such as landlords and second-home owners, may be particularly vulnerable.
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Ransomware, outages and supplier compromise
An attack on a law firm or an IT supplier can take systems or data offline, delay completions and interrupt work across multiple firms. The SRA’s 2025 presentation says the 2023 CTS attack affected more than 80 conveyancing firms. The National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) 2023 legal-sector report also describes the November 2021 Simplify Group attack: core systems went offline, completions were delayed and new transactions fell. The report said the incident was reported to have cost the firm £6.8 million; that is a historical reported figure, not a current estimate.
Supplier security is therefore part of a firm’s own operational resilience. A provider’s access to sensitive systems or data can create exposure beyond the provider itself.
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Money laundering is a separate, overlapping risk
Property transactions move large sums, and client accounts can handle funds, making conveyancing a money-laundering risk area. The SRA’s 2024–25 anti-money-laundering report says 73% of the suspicious activity reports it submitted involved conveyancing-related instructions and identifies vendor fraud as an ongoing concern. Those reports concern financial-crime monitoring; they are not a measure of cyber attacks.
Can you trust an email asking you to change bank details?
Do not rely on email alone to establish new or changed payment details. The NCSC recommends checking important or unusual requests through another method. For a property payment, verify the instructions using a trusted phone number or channel you already have independently—not contact details supplied in the message requesting the change.
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- Pause the payment. Treat an unexpected change, urgent demand or new account as a reason to verify before sending money.
- Contact the conveyancer using a known number. Use contact details established independently, such as those already confirmed through prior trusted communications. Do not call a number or follow a link provided only in the suspicious message.
- Confirm the details directly. Ask the firm to verify the account information and whether it actually sent the request. If you cannot confirm it, do not transfer funds.
- Report a suspected attempt promptly. Tell your conveyancer through the verified channel. If money has already been sent, contact your bank immediately as well as the firm.
What should conveyancing firms do to reduce exposure?
Protect payment workflows and client checks
- Set a clear rule that changed or unusual payment instructions require verification through a second trusted channel. Staff should not use contact details supplied in the questionable request.
- Carry out independent client identity and transaction checks. Document the matter-specific risk assessment and revisit it when facts or transaction terms change.
- Check the identity and regulatory status of unfamiliar conveyancers, as recommended in the Law Society’s guidance on property and registration fraud.
- Train staff to recognise phishing and impersonation, and make escalation of suspicious messages straightforward.
Secure accounts, suppliers and recovery
- Use strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) on email and critical business systems. If considering a physical security key, check that it works with the relevant systems.
- Assess suppliers’ security readiness, incident communications and continuity arrangements, and maintain a clear view of the supplier chain.
- Keep regular backups and test restoration; consider offline backups where suitable. A backup is useful only if the firm can restore it and continue essential work.
- Plan for disruption, including client communications, insurer notification and regulatory reporting. Rehearse the incident plan rather than relying on improvised decisions during an outage.
- Consider Cyber Essentials as a baseline route, while recognising that it does not replace a broader risk assessment, supplier assurance or an incident plan.
The NCSC’s legal-sector report states: “Responsibility for cyber security ultimately resides at the top of an organisation, not with an IT supplier or department.”
What should firms do when an incident occurs?
Contain the immediate risk, preserve relevant information and activate the firm’s incident plan. If payment details may have been exposed or money diverted, contact the bank and affected parties through verified channels. Firms should report incidents to the NCSC, as its legal-sector guidance recommends, and check current SRA reporting obligations. The NCSC report also identifies Action Fraud for ongoing incidents and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for reportable personal-data breaches. Applicable duties depend on the incident, so firms should follow current official reporting instructions and legal requirements.
How can property owners monitor for title activity?
Owners concerned about fraudulent title activity can use HM Land Registry’s free Property Alert service to receive notifications about certain activity on monitored properties, such as a new mortgage application. An alert is a prompt to check what is happening, not proof of fraud or a guarantee that every suspicious application will be prevented. If activity appears unfamiliar, contact HM Land Registry promptly and seek appropriate legal advice.
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