March 11, 2025Back to Latest

March is Fraud Prevention Month, and legal practice remains a prime target for fraudsters looking for personal information and funds from unwitting targets. When lawyers and firms become victims of fraud or theft, it affects the reputation of the legal profession and may impact their ability to attract and retain clients.

Lawyers are often busy with their legal practice and may be less focused on the business’s administrative aspects. This can make them vulnerable to sophisticated scams, such as the recent social engineering frauds targeting real estate transactions.

Real Estate Scams

Recently, several Alberta lawyers received an urgent email from what appeared to be a trusted lender, sending revised payout statements through email. Lawyers proceeded to pay out the requested amounts, only to find out later that it was a scam.

These scams work through fraudsters intercepting email communications regarding the payout of real estate transactions. They can send emails from addresses that appear similar to the original sender and impersonate the individuals who provide accurate and correct banking information. The lack of stringent verification processes and oversight by busy lawyers results in payment information accepted and not verified, payment into the wrong account and ultimately considerable financial losses.

Protect Yourself and your Clients

Check for warning signs of potentially fraudulent emails, including things like the following:

• The sender provides revised payout statements, or payment information is revised at the last minute.
• The recipient of funds is different from the lender, such as a numbered company.
• The email contains poor grammar and spelling.
• The sender is requesting information already provided or irrelevant to the transaction.
• Suspicious links or attachments are included.

Take steps to protect yourself and your clients:

• Institute multi-factor authentication on email and banking services to add an extra layer of protection to accessing these services.
• Verify changes through other communication channels, such as calling the lender to confirm that they sent the email and that the change is legitimate (avoid using contact information included in the suspect email as the fraudster could have altered it).
• Contact your IT department to determine if there has been a security breach.
• Seek confirmation of the payout from the lender and have your client independently check with their lender.

By staying vigilant and implementing these preventive measures, you can protect yourself and your clients from falling victim to these sophisticated scams. For more information on fraud prevention, online threats and real estate fraud, visit the Government of Canada’s website.