Australia’s transition to an electronic system of exchanging property may leave the door open for cyber criminals, Gallagher says.

The country is part-way through a shift from a 150-year-old paper-based system of exchanging property to electronic certificates, with electronic exchange mandatory in Victoria from October and in NSW from July next year.

Gallagher says recent high-profile breaches highlight the threat sophisticated cyber criminals pose to buyers and conveyancers.

“We have thousands of real estate agent clients across Australia and we’ve certainly noticed increasing incidences of cyber-related claims being made against them,” John Apter, a specialist real estate insurance broker for Gallagher, said.

“Phishing emails have become a daily challenge for most agencies as fraudulent emails blend in with high volumes of online queries.

“These constant attacks inevitably lead to human error, such as clicking a link in an unsolicited email and releasing malware or a Trojan virus into the business network.

“We’ve also seen examples of ‘social engineering’, whereby fraudsters access agency owners’ email accounts and issue false invoices to colleagues, urging immediate payment, with money being directed to fraudulent accounts.”

Mr Apter says business owners across the real estate sector should ensure all staff are aware of the growing risk of cyber breaches, and consider cyber insurance.

“Although cyber policies don’t typically cover social engineering incidents, these can be covered through an additional policy endorsement, and we recommend at least considering this, too,” he said.