Fraud has become one of the fastest-growing areas of financial crime. With around 40,000 fraud and cyber reports a month – accounting for roughly 40% of all UK crime – cases are on an upward trajectory and the consequential losses in property transactions alone can be considerable.
A real risk…
According to 2025 data from The Law Society, 65% of UK law firms have experienced a cyber incident in the past year. Simultaneously, 30% of property buyers report having suffered fraud during their home purchase process – a startling figure, given how much money and trust is involved. Despite these figures and the rising awareness of cybercrime, the infrastructure that supports the property transaction process remains an Achilles heel. While conveyancers, lenders and brokers alike are committed to getting the best possible outcomes for consumers and keeping their money safe in what is likely to be the biggest financial transaction of their lives, the technology and the very transaction process itself both contain inherent vulnerabilities.
The journey, for instance, remains relatively fragmented and reliant on email, paper, and multiple bank transactions to move money along the chain. Each transaction involves large, sometimes life-changing sums of money moving through a chain of parties, all under intense time pressure to get the deal to completion. On top of the fact that money changes hands several times during the process and leaves points of vulnerability open, the combination of high value sums and high stress makes it an attractive target for criminals.
Fraudsters exploit these pockets of exposure, changing emails, intercepting instructions, or manipulating the flow of funds to exploit the system. The UK’s conveyancers are also at capacity, working overtime to try and ensure every transaction is as safe and seamless as possible, but without the proper infrastructure to support them, they are facing an uphill battle to stay on top of the increasingly sophisticated ways cyber criminals are orchestrating attacks.
It is not just the legal side that is bearing such risks. Lenders are increasingly seeing fraudsters intercept their communications with borrowers and use sophisticated techniques to manipulate and forge instructions on the release of funds. Brokers are under more and more pressure to deliver the right products to their customers quickly in the current economy, and the need for speed in this process makes it easier for malicious actors to take advantage.
At the same time, they must act as reassuring advisers and help clients navigate the journey, preventing fraud wherever they can to save customers from harm. The losses speak for themselves. Between April 2024 and May 2025, there were 143 reported cases of conveyancing fraud, resulting in £11.7m in losses. Analysis from Lloyd’s Bank underlines the severity: some victims lose well over £47,000, with extreme cases reaching more than £250,000. The scale of the risk is real and without systemic change, both clients and commercial players face rising exposure.
…but not an inevitable one
Yet this risk is not inevitable. A more secure future for property completions is within reach, but with these losses directly impacting consumers on an increasing scale, no single part of the market can combat it alone. Many of the vulnerabilities stem from within the infrastructure that sits behind the conveyancing
process, but everyone feels the impact across the whole ecosystem. For brokers and lenders, it is not just a legal issue – it impacts their risk exposure, operational certainty and ability to deliver on their Consumer Duty and other regulatory obligations.
As a result, creating a more secure and certain home buying process means all stakeholders must align on their approach so that every stage is less susceptible to attack. Digital platforms, such as PEXA, are designed to enable funds to move securely and seamlessly through verified payment rails rather than requiring manual intervention at every stage. This ensures payments are only released once when all details are fully validated, reducing the chance for fraudsters to insert themselves. Better still, with technology that can automate the lodgement of title once funds are settled, this can also help reduce the risk of failed registrations.
In the UK, PEXA has already demonstrated this capability. Following its FCA approval, PEXA completed the first fully digital property purchase, using PEXA Pay to move lender funds securely, while automatically lodging title at HM Land Registry. This process removes so much stress from the process, allowing all stakeholders to focus on delivering far more certainty and security for consumers. Over time, with fraud risk reduced, it will also contribute to a more stable and sustainable professional indemnity environment.
Moreover, across the wider ecosystem, industry guidance and initiatives are helping to determine what effective fraud controls could look like, from digital identity solutions and trust frameworks to practice-wide risk assessments. Awareness campaigns and events, including International Fraud Awareness Week, are also keeping these issues front of mind across the sector.
Now is the time for collective action and prioritising the development of frameworks that connect securely and digitally across markets. Joining up standards and infrastructure to reduce confusion, fraud and risk is crucial to preventing the creation of incomplete silos of data. Digitisation has improved speed and visibility, but the key now is applying the same rigour to data and security all the way through the transaction. By embracing secure, digital platforms and embedding shared fraud mitigation practices, all parties in the home buying process can dramatically reduce risk, defend client trust and safeguard the integrity of every property transaction. The technology exists. The need is urgent. And the opportunity for the industry to lead has never been clearer.
Angela Hesketh is head of UK market development at PEXA
