Property scams are becoming harder to spot, with a sharp decline in Australians’ ability to detect fraud raising fresh concerns about settlement security.
Despite nine in 10 Australians being aware of at least one property scam, confidence in spotting one remains low as sophisticated settlement fraud increases, fueling concern among buyers and sellers.
According to the PEXA Settlement Scams Index consumer awareness report, confidence in detecting fraud has fallen, with fewer than one in two respondents now saying they could spot a scam, down from 51 per cent to 41 per cent.
The survey included Australians who bought a property in the past year or plan to buy one in the next, focusing on their ability to spot and understand property settlement scams.
According to the report, 42 per cent of respondents failed to spot any scam warning signs, while 99 per cent couldn’t identify the use of a fraudulent email address, even after being told it was fake.
The study comes as more Australians are targeted by property scams, including a Westpac banker who stopped a fraudulent settlement phishing email on August 8th that would have left a young mother short of $1.2 million.
In that case, only one letter in the email address separated the original sender from the scammer.
PEXA Group CISO Graham Fairley said the findings were concerning but not surprising, as fraudsters become more sophisticated.
“As scammers get more sophisticated, they are becoming harder to detect by average Aussies, especially during a stressful time of their life.”
Fairley said property settlement scams could be devastating for Australians, warning that cyber criminals compromise trust, not systems.
“They use highly convincing forms of communication that trick victims with urgent demands to send money to the wrong bank by impersonating trusted parties involved in the transaction such as real estate agents, lawyers, or conveyancers.”
He said that as fraudsters adapt to technology, more scamming methods will appear, with 62 per cent of respondents already concerned about the emerging AI-based voice cloning threat.
“While business email compromise remains the biggest threat, an emerging concern during property settlements has been the use of AI-enabled voice cloning – the email or voice on the phone may sound familiar, but that doesn’t mean it is genuine.”
Fairley said that while property settlement scams have become increasingly sophisticated, measures still exist to reduce fraud risk.
The survey showed that consumers were still learning the skills to spot scams.
The most common red flag was a request to transfer funds by email, identified by 32 per cent of respondents, followed by an unprofessional or illegitimate-looking email at 19 per cent.
A further 14 per cent said they would be wary if an email raised suspicion or needed verification, while the same share flagged instructions that did not match the usual property transaction process.
In total, 84 per cent of respondents said they would now verify new payment instructions with a known contact in person or by phone to reduce scam risk and protect their information.
To raise further awareness, PEXA has launched a new security hub to help people spot property settlement scams, understand cyber risks, and take steps to protect their money when buying or selling property.
“Property transactions are often the biggest financial decisions in people's lives. When scammers strike during these stressful yet critical moments, the consequences are significant,” Fairley said.
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