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‘Friday afternoon fraud’: warning for UK homebuyers on bank scams

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 584 words · By Hilary Osborne
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What to know about ‘Friday afternoon fraud’: warning for UK homebuyers on bank scams

You are poised to move house and are awaiting the solicitor’s instructions that things are ready to go and it is time to hand over your deposit.

Claims checked 6
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left20%
Center60%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

You are poised to move house and are awaiting the solicitor’s instructions that things are ready to go and it is time to hand over your deposit.

Why it matters

When the email arrives giving you their bank details, you set up the transfer and move the cash.

Common ground

And then the solicitor calls to ask where the money is.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/23/friday-afternoon-fraud-scam-convey…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 1
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Claim 1: “City of London police has warned that this type of fraud isn’t limited to purchases – it’s also been reported by renters who have lost money they thought they’d paid to their letting agent, and in probate transactions.”
CORROBORATED
The Guardian and Swikblog both report the City of London Police's warning that this fraud extends to renters/letting agents and probate transactions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), commonly known as the Metropolitan Police, Met Police, or the "Met", is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The City of London (informally known as the City or the Square Mile) is a city, ceremonial county and local government district in England. Established by the Romans around 47 AD as Londinium, it form…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temples. As of 2026, it is also the nationa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London_Police
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “Report Fraud (formerly known as Action Fraud) says there were 3,657 scams involving persuading people to pay into the wrong bank account in the 2025-26 financial year, and these cost victims a total of £101m.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources (The Guardian, Swikblog, and another news source) report the exact figures: 3,657 scams in the 2025-26 financial year totaling £101m, attributed to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Disability fraud is the receipt of payment(s) intended for disabled people from a government agency or private insurance company by one who should not be receiving them, or the receipt of a higher amo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_fraud
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In law, fraud is intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Insurance fraud is any intentional act committed to deceive or mislead an insurance company during the application or claims process, or the wrongful denial of a legitimate claim by an insurance compa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_fraud
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 3: “Conveyancing fraud involves criminals getting access to an email chain between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents and requesting payment to a bank account they control.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources (The Guardian, PropertyWire, and another news source) explicitly describe conveyancing fraud as criminals gaining access to email chains between homebuyers and solicitors/agents to divert payments.
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web search NEUTRAL — How Conveyancing Fraud Works. Fraudsters gain access to email chains between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents. They may hack into the solicitor's email account or trick the buyer into …
https://grandgoldman.com/blogs/finance/conveyancing-fraud-uk…
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web search NEUTRAL — Conveyancing fraud involves criminals getting access to an email chain between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents and requesting payment to a bank account they control.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/23/friday-afterno…
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web search NEUTRAL — How the fraud operates. Conveyancing fraud typically occurs when criminals gain access to email exchanges between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents.
https://www.propertywire.com/news/conveyancing-fraud-costs-u…
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Claim 4: “The scam is sometimes known as “Friday afternoon fraud” as it tends to take place at the end of a sale, which is often timed before a weekend.”
CORROBORATED
The Guardian and PropertyWire both explicitly mention the term 'Friday afternoon fraud' and explain that it occurs at the end of a sale before a weekend.
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web search NEUTRAL — The scam is sometimes known as “Friday afternoon fraud” as it tends to take place at the end of a sale, which is often timed before a weekend.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/23/friday-afterno…
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web search NEUTRAL — The scam is sometimes referred to as ‘Friday afternoon fraud’ as attacks frequently occur at the end of a sale, which is often scheduled before a weekend.
https://www.propertywire.com/news/conveyancing-fraud-costs-u…
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web search NEUTRAL — Conveyancing fraud happens when criminals trick victims into transferring their deposit and/or balance of monies to them via bank transfer. They do this by intercepting the communications between the …
https://tlslawyers.com/conveyancing-scams/
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Claim 5: “Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 Report Fraud recorded 140 property cases with an average loss of £78,393.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the claim is mentioned in one web search result snippet (referencing Report Fraud recording 140 property cases between April 2024 and March 2025), the other provided evidence for this specific claim index contains irrelevant information about AI and publishing. Only one relevant source snippet supports the specific numbers.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Carding is a term for the trafficking and unauthorized use of credit cards. The stolen credit cards or credit card numbers are then used to buy prepaid gift cards to cover up the tracks. Activities a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carding_(fraud)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenCart is an online store management system developed by Hong Kong–based OpenCart Limited. It is PHP-based, using a MySQLi (MySQL, MariaDB, Percona Server) or PostgreSQL database and HTML components…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCart
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Theranos Inc. () was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company. Founded in 2003 by then 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised more than…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theranos
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “In the worst case the Guardian has covered, a homebuyer transferred the entire £300,000 purchase price to the wrong account.”
CORROBORATED
Both The Guardian and Swikblog report the specific case of a homebuyer transferring a full purchase price of £300,000 to a fraudulent account.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Guardian usually refers to: Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another The Guardian, a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mail & Guardian, formerly the Weekly Mail, is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative re…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_&_Guardian
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, The …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.