Conveyancing solicitors can send completion statements and client data securely using encrypted email or a secure client portal, backed by strong email security, multi-factor authentication and a strict process for verifying bank details. For most practices this is part of managed IT at about £45 to £100 per user per month, and it is one of the most important defences against completion fraud.
Conveyancing is a prime target precisely because large payments move at predictable moments. Criminals intercept or spoof email to redirect funds, so how you communicate matters as much as what you say. Here are the options and the process that keep a Harlow practice and its clients safe.
Encrypted email and secure portals
Sensitive documents and statements should go by encrypted email or through a secure portal where the client logs in to retrieve them, rather than as plain attachments. Both keep the contents protected in transit and reduce the chance of a document being intercepted or sent to the wrong person.
Verify bank details, never trust email alone
The single most important rule: never act on bank details received or changed by email without verifying them through a separate, trusted channel. A clear, enforced process for confirming account details, and warning clients of the risk early, stops most completion-payment fraud before it starts.
Email security and multi-factor authentication
Managed email filtering blocks most phishing and impersonation attempts, and multi-factor authentication stops a stolen password turning into a hijacked mailbox. Together they protect both your accounts and the conversations clients trust you with.
Awareness, for staff and clients
People are part of the defence. Regular staff training keeps the team alert to spoofed emails and unusual requests, and a simple warning to clients at the start of a matter, explaining you will never change bank details by email, prevents a great deal of fraud.
What good looks like
Done well, secure communication is routine rather than a hurdle. Statements and documents reach clients safely, bank details are always verified, suspicious emails are caught, and everyone knows the process. That is what protects your client account and your reputation.
A real example: an attempt stopped
We support a conveyancing practice where managed email security and a strict payment-verification process work together. When a convincing attempt to redirect a payment arrived, the controls and the team’s training caught it, and the money reached the right account, which is exactly what good security is for.
What to ask a provider
A specialist for conveyancing solicitors should be able to answer:
- Can you set up encrypted email or a secure client portal for us?
- How do you protect us and our clients from completion-payment fraud?
- Is multi-factor authentication enforced on every mailbox?
- Do you provide managed email security against phishing and impersonation?
- Is the price clear and per user, with security included?
What to tell your clients
Clients are part of the defence. A short, clear message at the start of each matter, explaining that you will never change bank details by email and that they should verify any such request with you by phone, prevents a great deal of fraud. Paired with secure delivery of statements and documents, it protects both sides and shows clients you take their money and data seriously.
What getting it wrong looks like
It helps to picture the attack. A criminal quietly monitors an email thread, waits until completion is near, and sends a convincing message from what appears to be the client or the other side, asking that funds go to a new account. Without secure communication and a strict verification process, the money can be gone in minutes and is rarely recovered, leaving the practice facing the loss, the complaint and the regulatory fallout. With encrypted delivery, managed email security and a practice rule never to trust bank details sent by email, that same attempt is spotted and stopped. The cost of getting this right is a few pounds per user a month; the cost of getting it wrong can be a client’s entire completion.
Why the cheapest option costs more
It is tempting to keep emailing documents the old way, but a single redirected completion payment or intercepted statement costs far more than secure communication and proper email security. The right question is not the lowest price, but what one act of fraud would cost your client and your practice, and who stops it from happening.
Why conveyancing solicitors choose First Stop IT
First Stop IT has supported businesses since 2002, including conveyancing solicitors and high-street practices, and we know the software you run every day: LEAP, Oyez forms, eSigner, BigHand, Sage Payroll, PTP and Xero, alongside Microsoft 365. We support conveyancing solicitors in Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth, London and across Essex and Hertfordshire. Our credentials include:
- Cyber Essentials Certified
- IASME Cyber Assurance (Gold)
- NCSC Assured Service Provider (Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials)
- Microsoft Partner
- Crown Commercial Service Supplier (G-Cloud)
- Quality Principles Certified
We look after more than 2,000 endpoints across 50 companies, we have been named a Top 50 UK MSP for three years running, and we support organisations with 10 to 100 employees across Essex, Hertfordshire and London, including Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford.
Book a free IT and cyber security review
Want this handled properly for your practice? Book a free IT and cyber security review with First Stop IT.