Property transactions move large sums of money between people who often have never met. That combination of high value, unfamiliarity, and reliance on email makes property transfers a favourite target for fraudsters. This guide sets out how the scam typically works, the warning signs to watch for, and what to do if you think you have been targeted.

How the scam works

Criminals gain access to an email account, sometimes weeks before they act, and quietly monitor the correspondence around a property sale. They learn the names involved, the purchase price, and the date payment is due. At exactly the right moment, they send a message that looks as if it comes from the conveyancing attorney, the estate agent, or even the buyer or seller, announcing that banking details have changed. The money is paid into the fraudster’s account and is usually gone within hours.

This is known as Business Email Compromise, or BEC. It is not a clumsy, obviously fake email — modern versions are convincing, well-timed, and often come from an address that looks correct at a glance.

Pitfalls to watch for

• An email arriving mid-transaction announcing that banking details have changed, however official it looks.

• A sender’s email address that is almost right but not quite — a single letter swapped, added, or missing in the domain name.

• Pressure to pay urgently, especially on a Friday afternoon or just before a long weekend or public holiday.

• A threat that the deal will fall through, or penalties will apply, if payment is not made immediately.

• A request to pay into a different account "for compliance reasons", "due to an audit," or similar unusual explanations.

• Being asked to confirm details by replying to the same email, rather than by an independent phone call.

• Genuine transactions allow time to check. Urgency and pressure are themselves warning signs, not a reason to skip verification.

How to protect yourself

• Before making any payment, call the relevant firm or agent directly, using a number you find independently on their official website — never a number or link taken from the email itself.

• Confirm the banking details verbally with someone you know at that office, every time, even if you have paid that account before.

• Treat any change of banking details, from any party, as suspicious until verified by phone.

• Where possible, send a small test payment first and confirm it has been received before releasing the full balance.

• Keep your own email account secure: use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication.

• Be extra cautious if you are communicating over public WiFi or a shared or unfamiliar device.

If you are paying the full purchase price yourself

If you are a cash buyer transferring the full purchase price in one payment, you carry more exposure than a buyer using a bond, where usually only a deposit moves before registration and a bank is involved in the process. If this applies to you, treat the verification steps above as essential, not optional, for the full amount.

If you think you have been targeted, act immediately

Speed matters more than almost anything else. Once funds have left your account, there is often a very short window in which a bank can intervene.

• Phone your own bank’s fraud line immediately and ask them to attempt to recall or freeze the payment.

• Open a case with the South African Police Service the same day and get a case (CAS) number.

• Tell us, and any other parties to the transaction, immediately so we can alert our bank and flag the fraudulent account.

• Keep all emails relating to the payment, including the fraudulent one, without deleting anything - they are needed for the investigation.

Our commitment to you

We will never ask you to pay funds into a different account by email alone. If you receive a message that appears to come from us announcing a change in banking details, treat it as fraudulant, do not act on it, and phone us immediately using the number on our official website.

Vuyo Dlamini | Candidate Legal Practitioner