UK homebuyers warned over ‘Friday afternoon fraud’ as £101m lost to payment scams

The fraud typically involves criminals gaining access to an email chain and sending a message that appears to come from the solicitor or estate agent, requesting a payment to a new account. Sometimes the solicitor’s email has been hacked, but often the homebuyer falls victim to a phishing exercise. The scam is called “Friday afternoon fraud” because it tends to occur at the end of a sale, often timed before a weekend, and the large sums involved mean fraudsters only need a few victims to make significant money.

Report Fraud, formerly known as Action Fraud, recorded 3,657 such scams in 2025-26, costing victims £101m in total, according to the report. Of these, 140 were property cases between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, with an average loss of £78,393. In the worst case covered by The Guardian, a homebuyer transferred the entire £300,000 purchase price to the wrong account. The City of London police has warned that the fraud is not limited to purchases; renters paying letting agents and people involved in probate transactions have also been targeted.

The fraudulent messages look exactly like genuine emails from a solicitor or estate agent, the report says. They may ask for a payment the buyer is expecting, but earlier than expected, or claim that the solicitors’ firm has changed its bank details. If a solicitor’s email has been hacked, the message may come from the genuine address, but usually fraudsters use a spoofed address, with a missing letter or extra punctuation mark that can be spotted on close inspection.

The report offers advice for potential victims: do not post about an impending move on social media, as fraudsters may target you; secure your email account with a strong password and two-factor authentication; avoid logging into public wifi to check emails; confirm bank details in person or by a phone call you make to the solicitor; verify any message saying bank details have changed; heed warnings from your bank about mismatched account names; and if you have made a transfer that was not legitimate, contact your bank immediately.