Property fraud is on the rise and early in 2022 agents will have an opportunity to attend a webinar featuring a panel of experts discussing compliance, due diligence and verification in the property industry.
It’s being staged by PropTech platform Checkboard, and will analyse the impact on financial services and property industries throughout the world, as well as lessons learned from large-scale attacks using popular software and threat intelligence.
Yazad Bajina - sales and partnership director at Checkboard and a former employee of Leaders Romans Group - will be joined on the webinar by experts including Russell Humphrey, founder and chief executive of The Humphrey Group. They’ll discuss data protection, money laundering risk and what goes into assessing the risk, PEPs and AML, the traditional money laundering process and real-life stories, and UK regulations the property industry needs to be compliant with.
“Many of us saw the recent story about Reverend Mike Hall returning to his house and finding it stripped of all furnishings after it was sold without his knowledge. While shocking and extreme, this isn’t as rare as we might like to think – property fraud is becoming an increasing problem, with increasingly sophisticated operations to defraud and swindle people” explains Bajina.
He adds: “In the Reverend’s case, he returned to his home in Luton to find building work under way and a new owner in place who said he’d purchased the property. After an investigation by the BBC, it became clear that Hall’s identity had been stolen and used to sell the house, with the criminals banking the proceeds. Sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident.
“It might sound like the work of fiction…but it’s becoming all too real for those unfortunate enough to be the victims of such crimes.”
Bajina continues: “This is just one example of property fraud, and the increasingly bold and complex lengths fraudsters will go to. It’s not enough for people just to be wary and cautious – much better compliance and levels of verification are required.
“This is why we’re holding the webinar early next year – to help educate agents, landlords, property professionals, investors and others about the role compliance, due diligence and verification have to play in keeping property fraud at bay.”
The event - entitled Compliance, Due Diligence And Verification. Everything You Need To Know - is on Wednesday January 26 between 10am and 11am. You can register for the free event here.
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It's not rocket science to prevent this kind of events from happening, however, I accept there is a need for a lot more education. Its scary how many agents I come across whose AML processes are wanting, and some simply don't have any at all.
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