This article describes the features of the Account and Entity screen within LawyerChecker
Overview
The Account & Entity Screen has been developed in the wake of growing concern about vendor conveyancer fraud. With lenders tightening panels, fraud has moved along the line in a conveyancing transaction and criminals are stealing identities of real firms, or setting up their own fake firm in order to dupe you into sending money to them. Account & Entity Screen provides you with enhanced risk management in fund transmission.
In 2012 the SRA issued 22 alerts relating to identity theft, rising to 102 in 2013 and an unprecedented 187 in 2014.The trend continued throughout 2015, with 183 scam alerts. In the first 6 months of 2016 over 100 alerts have been issued already.
The FCA believes there are 1400 organised crime gangs trying to steal mortgage funds at any given time and they can use the brand of a solicitors/conveyancers firm that is well known to gain an extra badge of legitimacy.
Cases such as Lloyds TSB v Markandan, Purrunsing v A’Court & Co and House Owners Conveyancers Limited & Uddin and Nationwide v Davisons have found solicitors to be in breach of trust.
More recently not using Lawyer Checker has been used in a Letter of Claim to suggest that a conveyancer who has sent funds to a fraudster is negligent.
Vendor Conveyancer Fraud is a real threat to your business, your brand and your clients. Checking the Find a Solicitor list is no longer enough.
When in the transaction should I perform a search using Account & Entity Screen?
We recommend that you carry out the search when you get Requisitions on Title and before Exchange of Contracts. There is also an option to update the search for free, immediately before completion by clicking on ‘Search Update’ in the Account section of the website. You can then find the search you want to update and click ‘Perform Update’. The result will be emailed to you in the same timescale as with initial results.
What details do I need to perform a search on Account & Entity Screen?
All you need is the client account details of the firm you are sending money to and their name and postcode. You will also need to enter some details about the case concerned.
How long does it take to receive my result when using Account & Entity screen?
Using the Account and Entity Screen service, you will receive a result immediately with the check of the account against our database. If the result is Infrequent or Unknown, we will send you a further research email within 4 working hours. If you are concerned about the length of time it will take to carry out searches, we have the option for you to integrate your case management system directly to our system. Please contact us and we will send you over the integration pack.
What should I do with the results from Account & Entity Screen?
Any response sent by Lawyer Checker is not a statement by Lawyer Checker that this bank account is safe, suspicious, invalid or unsafe.
Information provided by Lawyer Checker should be used in conjunction with other information on file to consider whether it is appropriate to transfer money to that account.
Approximately 85% of results will come back as Frequent therefore if a result is Infrequent or Unknown, it may present a potential risk and we suggest that you seek to satisfy yourself that you are comfortable with sending money to this account.
Consider all the information we have provided to you in conjunction with other information you have on file. There may be a legitimate reason why the account has presented a potential risk, such as incorrect details, or it may require further investigation.
If you feel that the information you have still presents a risk; we suggest that you pick up the phone to the COLP/COFA at that firm and ask them to confirm their bank details.
If you are still not comfortable sending money to the other side, you may wish to consider discussing the risk with your clients and discharging the mortgage directly or aborting the transaction.
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