Property fraud
Fraudulent attempts to steal equity from a property or prevent the legitimate owner selling or remortgaging, including identity fraud, forged deeds, and conveyancing scams.
Also known as: title fraud, conveyancing fraud
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Property fraud encompasses several distinct schemes. In title fraud, a criminal uses stolen identity documents to impersonate a homeowner — typically one who has no mortgage and is not living at the property — and attempts to sell the property or raise a mortgage against it. The proceeds are taken before the fraud is detected.
Conveyancing fraud redirects the large sums exchanged during property purchase: fraudsters intercept communications between buyers and solicitors to substitute fraudulent payment details. Given that home purchases may involve six-figure sums in a single bank transfer, this is extremely lucrative.
Land registry alert services allow property owners to be notified of applications on their title, providing an early-warning mechanism. Solicitors can be verified through official law-society registers.
Sources
- IdentityTheft.gov — Report and Recover from Identity Theft — Federal Trade Commission
- FTC — Identity Theft — Federal Trade Commission
- IRS — Identity Theft Central — Internal Revenue Service
- CISA — Identity Theft and Personal Cyber Threats — Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency