Solicitor said they are changing bank account details...due to complete.is it a scam?!

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Hello

Bit of an odd one

Have been dealing with a conveyancing solicitor recommended by our estate agent for many months now

Have had detailed legal advise over phone. Been to office twice (covid). Searches etc the works done.

We were due to exchange today and have transferred deposit to the account number that was on our original client care letter. We verified this account number over phone twice with out solicitor and once over email..

Suddenly today they have advised they are changing to a limited company as of tommorow ( no word before) so will be sending us details of a new account to pay into for completion (told us this over phone and via email)

now I'm an anxious person and this has really set me off worrying I'm about to be scammed

Bf thinks I'm being irrational and we've been dealing with them for months

Can any one advise how I check if their story of converting to a limited company stacks up?

What assurances would you insist on being put in place before you transferred your life savings to a new account?

I have two weeks between exchange and completion so a bit of time to sort this out and feel satisfied

Any thoughts welcome

Yes this is a scam - go in person

I would phone them for confirmation.

My own lawyer insisted we only exchange bank details by phone, never email, so they couldn't be intercepted by fraudsters

www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/topics/property/property-and-registration-fraud

There are potentially a few similarities with this story. Definitely speak again to the firm.

amp.theguardian.com/money/2020/feb/29/bank-scam-solicitors-email-hacked

Firstly, I am not a solicitor, I am an accountant, but we also operate client money accounts in a similar way.

Do not send the money to the new account. We will not email clients with changes to our client account.

The old account will still be in operation.

You can check details of a limited company using Companies House Beta on find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/ But the limited company is showing on the law society register, but the bank account details are not.

I would call them using the number you have used previously. Do not google the number,

[quote 2bazookas]I would phone them for confirmation.

My own lawyer insisted we only exchange bank details by phone, never email, so they couldn't be intercepted by fraudsters

www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/topics/property/property-and-registration-fraud[/quote]
thanks for your comment . In their defence they have not sent new bank details yet-they told me over phone and in email that a letter will be issued out (im assuming physical but I will not accept if it is via email)

regardless I'm sufficiently paranoid now (can you tell?!) to insist that I will pay into their old account unless they can offer to meet me in person at their offices to verify the new account info.

im going to call first thing tommorow and hope they can offer me a positive response on either of those requests.

I wonder if it might also be worth speaking to your mortgage lender and asking where they have been asked to send funds

@AuditAngel

Firstly, I am not a solicitor, I am an accountant, but we also operate client money accounts in a similar way.

Do not send the money to the new account. We will not email clients with changes to our client account.

The old account will still be in operation.

You can check details of a limited company using Companies House Beta on find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/ But the limited company is showing on the law society register, but the bank account details are not.

I would call them using the number you have used previously. Do not google the number,

thank you for your insight

If you read any of the correspondence from your conveyancer it will say (as it has to by law) "We will not change our bank details....... do not pay into any other account..... "
if they fail to tell you this and you do end up paying it to Mr I AMA Bankrobber then they can be found liable. The message will be plastered on your communications, it certainly is with ours.

You are right to be cautious it is a common scam.
Do everything you can to protect yourself.
Go in person.
Contact your bank for advice on how to protect yourself.

OP, change your email password, it could be hacked and been spotted you are purchasing a property.

Agree it sounds like a scam, BUT post at 8.50 you say you spoke to the actual solicitor who confirmed it? That's the bit I don't follow (may be sleep deprivation).

Sounds very much like a scam. Phone them on a number you have previously used.Do not let them phone you. Insist on speaking to the solicitor you work with AND a senior partner.if you arent sure you would recognise the voices, then ask for a detail from your file - a good example might be, "please five me the Reference on the letter you sent me dated xx.xx.2020". This would be something they can easily find, I expect, from the electronic files.

I worked at a place once where scammers hacked the telephone system just before Christmas, then tried to pay themselves £2m from the main account . The bank did the usual call back to confirm the amount of the transfer and the ONLY reason is was caught was the lowly bank employee felt the person was being too pushy to get the transfer completed that day. The whole scam was incredibly sophisticated and plausible. Be extremely careful.

I don't think people are reading the OP's emails. The person she has been dealing with all along has told her OVER THE PHONE that the firm is changing bank details. It's not a random email. OP has seen that the firm set up a new entity last year - timescales do match up as firms often take time to change their entity over. OP has already done everything people are suggesting to check out the issue. Firms do change bank accounts from time to time.

OP, I actually don't think this is Friday afternoon fraud - that's based on a third party interposing themselves in email communications and that's not happened at all here. It's possible this is a new extensive, long term scam and the person you have been dealing with all along is a scammer, or somehow you think you have spoken to the person you're dealing with but it was a scammer. Scammers are clever.

I don't think you're paranoid to want to check this out more. I would go onto solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/ and call the reception number for the firm you think you're dealing with and ask. When the letter arrives do the same think and verify the account details. If you are still worried, you are completely within your rights to drive there and ask to speak to someone in person (social distancing) but I personally would be satisfied by speaking to reception on the official law society number.

Urgh. I meant to say I don't think people are reading the OP's posts i.e. people on this thread!

OK, now you've given a bit more information we can see it's not an email intercept scam. I know you'll still get loads of posts about that though.

Now you can verify this by phoning the solicitors on their landline office number and confirm the first phone call (which could be a different type of scam) but safest to pay to the original account.

I know I said this above but honestly don't waste time trying to look into their legal entity status, that really doesn't matter and wouldn't prove anything anyway as they could be both changing status and being the subject of a scam at the same time.

The key point here is that no one charges their bank detail in the course of a day without giving you warning.