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Cybercriminals are targeting the property and real estate sector to conduct business email compromise scams in the country, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has warned.
It says all parties involved in the buying, selling and leasing of property should be vigilant when communicating via email, particularly during settlement periods.
According to the Federal Government body, it has has observed a growing trend of cybercriminals targeting the sector to conduct business email compromise (known as BEC) scams.
Typically, criminals operating online will impersonate parties to a property transaction – such as real estate agents or conveyancers – and insert illegitimate bank details for settlement or rental payments.
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Victims assume this request is legitimate and will unknowingly send payment to the cybercriminal’s bank account. Successful BECs can go unnoticed for weeks until businesses follow up on a missing payment.
“These fraudulent emails may come from hacked email accounts, or cybercriminals might register domain names that are similar to legitimate companies – typically by swapping letters or adding additional characters,” the ACSC explains.
“They might also create email addresses with Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook that use the legitimate business name. At a quick glance, an email address may look legitimate when it is actually being operated by a cybercriminal.”
Online scammers are also singling out mortgage lenders in order to intercept property settlements.
Settlement agents and lawyers should be wary of updating bank account details – particularly before updating Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), an online service that deals with property transactions.
When cybercriminals impersonate a property seller and request their bank details to be updated, settlement agents using PEXA will change these details in the system. PEXA remains secure yet the new bank account details are fraudulent, resulting in the buyer sending funds to the cybercriminal’s bank account.
“This trend has potential for significant financial harm. All parties involved in the buying, selling and leasing of property should be vigilant when communicating via email, particularly during settlement periods,” the ACSC said.
“This includes real estate agents, conveyancers and lawyers, mortgage lenders and any clients of these businesses.”
Recently, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a statement saying a significant amount of money was lost to scammers in first half of the year, with the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies playing a big role.
“More than half of the $70-million in losses were to cryptocurrency, especially through Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency scams were also the most commonly reported type of investment scam, with 2,240 reports,” its Deputy Chair, Delia Rickard, said.