Many agents not confident they can spot fraud

More than a third of letting agents are not confident they could spot a fraudulent or suspicious client transaction, it is revealed.

Research by accounting platform The Letting Partnership also found more than half of agents believe they are more exposed to fraud and scams than three years ago.

Plus, many agents – 35% – reported having identified a financial fraud in the past 12 months.

Biggest threat

The biggest threat now comes from AI through impersonation and deepfake scams, according to 29% of agents surveyed, with 18% already experiencing this.

Phishing and impersonation of landlords or tenants was the most common type of attempted fraud or suspicious financial activity, cited by 26% of respondents, followed by third-party rent payments.

Sophisticated

Chris Mason, Chief Operating Officer at The Letting Partnership (pictured), says: “The fact that more than a third of letting agents aren’t completely confident in their ability to identify a suspicious client money transaction before funds are transferred should be a real concern, particularly when over a third have encountered attempted financial fraud in the last year alone.

“The emergence of AI-enabled fraud is making the threat increasingly sophisticated, and it’s telling that the industry already considers it the greatest financial security risk moving forward, despite more traditional forms of fraud remaining prevalent.”

He went on to say: “With the Government now looking to strengthen regulation of property agents, there’s an opportunity to ensure that greater professional accountability is matched by stronger financial safeguards.”