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ARTICLE · 19 APRIL 2024

Protect yourself against payment redirection scams

Stacks Law Firm
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Scammers impersonate conveyancers or real estate agents and give false account numbers to redirect payments.

AustraliaReal Estate and Construction
Taylor Kennedy
Taylor Kennedy
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According to the latest figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in 2022 Australians lost more than $3 billion to scammers, including losses due to payment redirection scams – and that is only the losses that were reported to the ACCC.

How common are payment redirection scams?

As house prices soar, scammers are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to intercept electronic money transfers.

Hacks and scams redirecting payments that were intended for conveyancers to purchase new homes account for $225 million of those losses.

The ACCC's Scamwatch receives two reports a week on average of such payment redirection scams, also referred to as business email compromise scams, linked to real estate transactions.

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