They will nick anything these days....

[Parm]

Bear in mind that a solicitor(s) are not compulsary. It is possible to handle conveyancing without any legal qualifications whatsoever, so there may not be a bent solicitor at all.

I will assure you there is

 

[gaz1]

Have you ever tried to obtain a DVLA driving licence from abroad ?

You can't. In my expérience.

Passports yes, but not simple.

Surely, for a UK licence, you would need to provide a UK address ?

Exactly DVLA, Won't even consider posting out the UK.

thats the point and only way i can see it done is knowing the user was away from there home for a long period of time

it also means that post was either being directed away from the property or someone was collecting said post at the door

you cant tell me in this day and age that dvla didnt check original picture against the supplied picture

if you are then the picture is no longer fit for purpose on a driving license as its no longer id when it can be frauduantly got

this would also mean that dvla renew your pic after 10 years isnt fit for purpose either

dvla provided id to the fraudster

this enabled the fraudster to open a bank account using dvla id

its not the banks fault
its not the solicitors fault

but ? do you have to provide id to buy a property

i presume that id has to be provided to said solicitor then forwarded to a bank to check against there own id

if they provided DL as photo license for the bank which is yes ( was there in 2000 )

then the bank is at fault for not checking id properly

before deeds was passed to the buyer

 

[bricol]

I will assure you there is

There might be, but . . .

My other half is involved in way bigger property transactions than that, and the only ID checks they can do are scarily small and I suspect easy to fake, as in this case with a bit of work, well enough to pass the required checks. Hence they carry rather good insurance - so fingers crossed for this poor sod, the one involved does too.

 

[Barking Mat]

thats the point and only way i can see it done is knowing the user was away from there home for a long period of time

it also means that post was either being directed away from the property or someone was collecting said post at the door

you cant tell me in this day and age that dvla didnt check original picture against the supplied picture

if you are then the picture is no longer fit for purpose on a driving license as its no longer id when it can be frauduantly got

this would also mean that dvla renew your pic after 10 years isnt fit for purpose either

dvla provided id to the fraudster

this enabled the fraudster to open a bank account using dvla id

its not the banks fault
its not the solicitors fault

but ? do you have to provide id to buy a property

i presume that id has to be provided to said solicitor then forwarded to a bank to check against there own id

if they provided DL as photo license for the bank which is yes ( was there in 2000 )

then the bank is at fault for not checking id properly

before deeds was passed to the buyer

Where do I start ?

So imagine @gaz1 , I know you've gone off for a year, to xxx.

I want to steal your house, and sell it on...

I'm going to need false identity, false bank accounts, false residence, false residency bills, the whole false lot.

Whether or not I have a fake driving licence, is just a small part of the falsification of identity. Whether it's issued by DVLA, or a homemade fake.

It's the rest, all the tax returns, banking details, payslips.

Clearly it does happen, as this thread is an illustration, but as @Parm said earlier, sounds like some bent solicitor.

There are, I imagine, numerous safeguards, in place, to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

And 99.9 % of the time there are no issues, but as we all know there are evil scrotes out there.

 

[julianf]

The law came to find me once. They had picked up someone for shoplifting, and, when searched, they had a load of my mail on them.

I was living in flats at the time, and all the mail ended up on the floor downstairs. I guess that's how they got it, but the police didn't think so.

Anyway, that's how it starts, i guess.


It was clear this chap was never going far though - if i was going to commit some crime, where i may, or may not get caught, i certainly wouldn't be carrying hard evidence linking me to an entirely separate crime on me at the same time.

 

[gaz1]

I want to steal your house, and sell it on...

I'm going to need false identity, false bank accounts, false residence, false residency bills, the whole false lot.

Whether or not I have a fake driving licence, is just a small part of the falsification of identity. Whether it's issued by DVLA, or a homemade fake.

It's the rest, all the tax returns, banking details, payslips.

yes id agree for buying a house all details would be needed

i presume very little is needed when selling the property

i would expect for selling said property all you would need is a driving licence and a bank account possible a few bills needed but thats it

really not much in id to sell it

 

[northwest]

I would think a solictor would be insured against this.

Can you imagine how long this would take to sort out! New owner would be - really out of pocket & not wanting to play. His solicitor would be stalling forever.

There would be two solictors firms involved - the vendor and the purchaser.

I think the Solicitors Indemnity fund only goes to £500k now in any one claim as there were so many claims against Solicitors in the 80's - 90's they have to take out separate "top up" insurance to cover any more.

 

[My Old Landy]

yes id agree for buying a house all details would be needed

i presume very little is needed when selling the property

i would expect for selling said property all you would need is a driving licence and a bank account possible a few bills needed but thats it

really not much in id to sell it

Having just sold a house, I had to forward a copy of the deeds plus various other supporting documents. However, as we are still in a pandemic state of mind, there were no physical checks so my solicitor used an app. You have to move about so they know you match the static picture. Note that either a passport, diving licence or other 'official' photo ID is required and without such it is hard to buy or sell a property. The AML also plays a part as you have to prove where the money came from when buying. Selling and you have to have a traceable bank account to put the proceeds into (i.e. not a crypto account).

 

[pedrobedro]

I've not seen any follow up on this story in any news anywhere, has it been resolved I wonder ?

 

[Other Daniel]

I've not seen any follow up on this story in any news anywhere, has it been resolved I wonder ?

All too frequently we don't hear of any follow up to these stories.

 

[Westfield-builder]

It was being discussed on BBC Radio5 last night, about 6.15. I didn't hear it all as I was dashing in with hot fish n chips.

 

[colnerov]

It was being discussed on BBC Radio5 last night, about 6.15. I didn't hear it all as I was dashing in with hot fish n chips.

Hi, I've just found it on the iplayer and it's just a recap and the vulnerabilities of identity theft. No new information.

Colin

 

[Eric the chicken]

I've not seen any follow up on this story in any news anywhere, has it been resolved I wonder ?

Good heavens not yet. Once the lizard people, sorry lawyers get involved it'll drag on for months.

 

[Kayos]

Just heard an update on radio 4

Someone has been arrested for fraud, but the chap who's house it was is unlikely to get it back

How is that possible?

 

[gaz1]

Police update in the case of 'stolen' Luton house

The reverend was believed to be the victim of identity fraud

www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk

Luton property fraud down to 'devastating lack of due diligence'

Lawyer Checker tells Conveyancing Association members that more needs to be done to avoid 'heart-breaking mistakes'.

thenegotiator.co.uk

Why checking photo ID is crucial | Today's Conveyancer

Why checking photo ID is crucial: It is not the first time that someone’s house has been sold from underneath them by property fraudsters but nevertheless the tale of Reverend Mike Hall’s h

www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk

 

[Monkey Harris]

Police update in the case of 'stolen' Luton house

The reverend was believed to be the victim of identity fraud

www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk

Luton property fraud down to 'devastating lack of due diligence'

Lawyer Checker tells Conveyancing Association members that more needs to be done to avoid 'heart-breaking mistakes'.

thenegotiator.co.uk

Why checking photo ID is crucial | Today's Conveyancer

Why checking photo ID is crucial: It is not the first time that someone’s house has been sold from underneath them by property fraudsters but nevertheless the tale of Reverend Mike Hall’s h

www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk

where was god when he needed him ...

 

[Pete.]

Just heard an update on radio 4

Someone has been arrested for fraud, but the chap who's house it was is unlikely to get it back

How is that possible?

I'll never understand that. In my eyes the buyer is the victim not the proper owner. The land registry change was obtained using fraudulent means, it should be reversed now that the crime has been discovered.

TBH if there should be someone out of pocket it should be the conveyancers.

 

[fizzy]

We were scammed a few years ago.
Bloke took us to country court. The whole system is geared up against businesses. Big companies have their own legal teams but small firms can't afford the solicitors fees.
The chap ended up with a £6k ccj and we lost about £10k in total.
We had a visit from court bailiffs and agreed to pay £600 a month.
After we had made the first payment we had a phone call from West Midlands Police.
They had arrested a gang scamming courier firms. They found all our court details on one of the computers.
I was so pleased but guess what?
Innocent until proven guilty.
Case took 2 years to come to court. We had to pay the full amount. Never got a penny back
The gang got 4 years each but I was more annoyed with the county court system for allowing it.

 

[colnerov]

where was god when he needed him ...

He was with the reverend in Wales doing missionary work.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I'll never understand that. In my eyes the buyer is the victim not the proper owner. The land registry change was obtained using fraudulent means, it should be reversed now that the crime has been discovered.

TBH if there should be someone out of pocket it should be the conveyancers.

Yup I concur. Poor bloke.