Get ahead of the criminals targeting your conveyancing business by understanding the threats you face before it’s too late.
That was the message from triSearch CEO Chris Gibbs, who was speaking to conveyancers at Dott & Crossitt’s Kick-Off 2025 event.
The technology industry veteran sounded the warning as conveyancers and property professionals face up to a multitude of compliance issues and external risks.
“New Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations will apply to conveyancers from July 1, 2026,” he said.
“But the impact of the AML / CTF legislation will hit the conveyancing industry from mid this year.
“AUSTRAC will be engaging with various industry groups and solutions providers such as triSearch to kick off an education process with the Australian Conveyancing industry.”
The financial crimes agency’s CEO Brendan Thomas has revealed that $60 billion in harm is funnelled through money laundering with property used to wash a major part fo that.
“The intention is to make it harder for criminals to use real estate to launder money,” Mr Gibbs added, noting that the agency would be “specifically targeting cross-border purchases, especially if the buyer is from a high-risk jurisdiction.”
He also highlighted the fact that money laundering can have an impact on the market.”
“Laundering cash through real estate can cause property prices to increase artificially,” he said.
While the aim of the AML reforms is to get ahead of the money launderers, the threat of cybercrime continues to impact industries and individuals every day, according to Mr Gibbs.
“Personal data hacks on Australian businesses such as Optus, Medibank, Dan Murphy’s, Iconic, Gusman Y Gomez and Binge have all been targeted and their brands and reputations have been impacted,” he said.
“While larger corporations like Optus and their Singapore based parent Singtel may be able to sustain a Cyber-attack smaller businesses that typify the Australian Conveyancing industry cannot survive a sustained cyber-attack from a malicious 3rd party.
“A case in point from December 2024 is the Gold Coast couple, Sarah and Laine Robertson.
“They lost more than $250,000 in a highly personalised scam that took them weeks to realise.
“The couple likely fell victim to a “phishing” attack — a scam that criminals use to target high-value transactions and are difficult for victims to spot.
“They spent years saving for a house deposit, had a reputable conveyancer, and even hired a buyer’s agent to help them with negotiations after losing out on multiple properties they had fallen in love with.
“After finding a house in Mount Nathan on the Gold Coast they went into an ANZ bank branch to make two transfers of their home deposit, totalling more than $300,000.
“The day before settlement the ANZ Bank notified the couple that $252,000 of the $300,000 was gone.
“The couple had unknowingly transferred almost all their deposit into a scam account.
“The client lost it all without a chance of recovery. There was no suggestion the conveyancer was liable but does raise questions over how the transfer of large sums of money was done.
“It is only a matter of time before greater protections are forced on Conveyancers to protect their customers’ personal information. But at whose cost?
“We anticipate a further crackdown by the Government and regulators. Our recommendation is that businesses should be incentivised to invest in a scalable Cyber Security platform that can protect them and their clients for now and into the future.”
