Scamwatch: 'A scammer impersonated my conveyancing solicitor'

Dear Which?,

My husband and I were in the process of buying a home when I received emails that appeared to be from our conveyancing solicitor, but they were sent by a fraudster.

The emails looked real because they came from the genuine email address of the law firm we were using. 

We were asked to transfer our house deposit in ‘chunks’. I made two £1,000 payments and my husband made a £3,000 payment – all from our respective Halifax accounts. 

When trying to send a further payment, I received a fraud warning from the bank, which opened my eyes to the scam.

We reported the fraud to Halifax. Halifax recovered just under £13 from the receiving bank. 

It accepted it could have done more to warn me before I made the first payment, but says I am also at fault because I failed to verify the payment request. I was initially reimbursed £500 out of the £2,000 I paid out.

It refused to reimburse my husband, on the grounds that he also failed to verify the request. What can I do now?

Name and address supplied

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Faye Lipson, Which? senior researcher, says: 

When we discussed the case, you explained that your husband doesn’t speak or read English very well, so he would have struggled to heed any warnings or perform checks encouraged by the bank.

This could be considered a vulnerability under the old Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) code. The code sets out the circumstances in which victims of bank transfer frauds should be refunded. Halifax was signed up to the CRM code until it was replaced by the mandatory fraud reimbursement requirement on 7 October 2024. 

Vulnerable victims should be reimbursed, but you didn’t think your husband's vulnerability was taken into account by Halifax when assessing the case against the CRM code.

I also advised you to ask Halifax about the discrepancy between the different outcomes when it (separately) assessed your fraud reports. Halifax told us it had identified red flags in this case, which it believes could have alerted you to the scam earlier, such as the account details being different to those you’d sent money to previously. 

Halifax said it provided a warning that asked you to call your solicitor to verify details. But it recognised it could have done more, given the pattern of the transactions over a short period of time. It decided to fully reimburse you.

What to do if you've transferred money to a scammer

If you think you've been scammed, contact your bank or card provider immediately and report the scam to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.

If you transferred money to a scammer, your bank may be able to stop the transaction or attempt to recover your money – so speed is of the essence. 

New fraud reimbursement rules came into force on 7 October 2024 and apply to bank transfer scams that happen on or after this date. The rules apply to payment service providers (PSP) that offer Faster Payments, which is most UK banks, building societies and e-money firms. For scams that took place before this date, the CRM code will be applied when handling your case, if your bank was signed up to this code.

If the money can't be reclaimed, you can make a formal complaint to the bank. Escalate a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if your bank refuses to reimburse you.