Tech company InfoTrack has launched a product called Securexchange to protect real estate agents, conveyancers and buyers from the threat of large financial loss during property exchanges.
InfoTrack General Manager Lee Baillie says that the system has been specifically designed to prevent the intercepting of insecure emails which may include settlement bank account details. 
Instead of getting the correct account details, consumers have received intercepted instructions to deposit money into a hacker’s bank account. With phishing emails at times looking more ‘real’ than ever, it’s relatively easy for regular people to mistake ‘scam’ emails from the real thing; and in the last 12 months, there have been several instances of impersonating or phishing in the industry.
“A lot of our client base is within the legal and conveyancing industry, who are closely connected to real estate businesses, and we’ve had a number of clients raise these challenges with us,” said Mr Baillie.
According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, a group of Victorian property buyers lost more than $200,000 to a hacking scam targeting the email accounts of real estate agents.
The Securexchange product has been designed to eliminate altogether the need to share account details via unsecured email.
Users can create an account, join a secure workspace and then share account details via encrypted links. Full account details are then only visible to authorised parties.
Once everyone is ready to exchange, a traffic light system alerts the system administrator to authorise the exchange with the date and time being recorded against the workspace.
“We build the best products when we are solving a genuine problem in the market,” said Mr Baillie.
“Securexchange is a secure, transparent and guaranteed platform that facilitates a transaction within a secure environment.
“I have a goal of making this really easy for both the conveyancer and the real estate agents. And at the moment it’s complementary and you can use it from today,” concluded Mr Baillie.
To find out more or create a free account, visit securexchange.com.au.
