Securexchange launches to safeguard property deposits from cybercriminals

Tech company InfoTrack today launched Securexchange to protect real estate agents, conveyancers and buyers from the real threat of large financial loss during property exchanges.

The property industry is a prime target for cybercriminals who have developed sophisticated schemes to intercept emails and redirect deposit funds into fraudulent accounts. Last year, a group of Victorian property buyers collectively lost more than $200,000 to a hacking scam targeting the email accounts of real estate agents.  Consumer Affairs Victoria said agents’ email addresses had been hacked, and home buyers were sent instructions to deposit money into the hacker’s bank account instead of the estate agent’s trust account.

Similar scams have resulted in big losses in other Australian states over the past two years with Andrew Buckley from Brisbane recently losing $90,000 of his deposit proceeds from the sale of his Gold Coast investment property because of email hacking, and two property buyers in South Australia also losing close to $1 million through an email scam. Cases such as these expose real estate agents to increased risk of reputational damage and liability.

Securexchange stops the need to share trust account details via unsecured emails and protects the reputation of all professional parties involved in the property transaction. Developed by InfoTrack, a technology company servicing the property industry for the past 19 years, Securexchange brings together verified parties in a tightly secured transaction to exchange details in real-time, offer transparency on progress of the exchange, and streamline communications. As the dominant provider of property related searches and e-conveyancing solutions in Australia, InfoTrack has worked with the industry to build this solution that is secure, easy-to-use and backed by a guarantee.

Andrea Weber from Foxwood Real Estate was eager to trial Securexchange after hearing of a case that incurred catastrophic financial loss but wasn’t publicly disclosed to protect the agent’s reputation. She said that “Securexchange is really simple to use and offers our clients peace of mind because they know we have precautions in place to protect their deposit funds and financial details. I will be using Securexchange for our property exchanges going forward.”

InfoTrack CEO, John Ahern says “the risks of communicating bank account details via email are high. We surveyed our legal clients and learned of an alarming number of cyberattacks, with 29.8% experiencing hacking attempts and 23.3% having their emails intercepted. However, what’s most alarming, is the number of incidents that were unreported to protect our clients from reputational damage.”

Ahern goes on to say that “InfoTrack has made a commitment to support our clients through the transition to e-conveyancing and this solution is now enabling another compo­nent of the conveyancing workflow to be secure, transparent and efficient for all parties in­volved. We have introduced this product to market at no charge to maximise adoption”.

To find out more, go to www.securexchange.com.au.