Guide · Payment safety

Property-transfer fraud checks and payment safety in Dubai

Treat property documents, authority to act and payment instructions as separate things to verify. A genuine document does not authenticate every person or payment request connected with it.

Verify the record through the official channel

Use the relevant official service for the document being checked. For a title deed, start with DLD’s verification service. Type or use a known official address instead of trusting a lookalike link sent with an urgent request.

Reconcile the result with the intended property and parties. Record inconsistencies and seek confirmation from the appropriate issuer.

Illustrative example — not a client case

Red flag 2 · A title deed image that does not match the record

A buyer in Dubai Marina is sent a photo of a title deed and asked to pay a holding deposit to “secure the unit”. The image shows a plot and unit number, but the reference cannot be found through the official verification service and the recorded party differs from the person requesting the deposit.

What the checklist catches: a record is verified through the official channel and reconciled with the identity of the person acting; a screenshot is not evidence. No deposit is sent until the record, the party and the authority to sell all line up.

Outcome: the buyer declines to pay and asks for the verified record; the listing disappears.

Verify who is authorised to act

Check the person’s identity and, where relevant, the representation or company authority needed for the transaction. Possession of an owner’s document is not the same as permission to sell or receive money.

If authority is unclear or disputed, obtain appropriate advice and confirmation before relying on it. Our ownership-status checklist organises the evidence categories.

Illustrative example — not a client case

Red flag 3 · A “representative” without accepted authority

Owner A lives overseas. A person describing themselves as the owner’s cousin offers to sign for the seller at the appointment and asks the buyer to transfer the price to the cousin’s account so it can be “passed on”.

What the checklist catches: someone acting for a party needs the authority evidence required for these acts, accepted for the transaction; a relative attending is not automatically an authorised signatory, and the seller’s sale proceeds are paid to the seller or to the payees set by the registration process, not to an intermediary.

Outcome: the buyer requests the authority evidence and the seller’s own instructions; the file proceeds only when both exist.

Independently confirm payment instructions

Be particularly careful with a new recipient, changed bank details, last-minute payment request or pressure to use a personal account. Confirm the exact amount, payee and accepted method through an independently known contact for the relevant bank, trustee or appointed provider.

Do not verify a suspicious instruction by replying only to the same message that supplied it. Keep the confirmed schedule with the file.

Illustrative example — not a client case

Red flag 1 · Changed payment instructions the day before the appointment

Owner A is selling an apartment in Jumeirah Village Circle to Buyer B. The agreed schedule names the trustee-side payments and the seller’s bank as payees. The evening before the appointment, Buyer B receives an email in the seller’s name saying the settlement should now go to “a new account, to save time”.

What the checklist catches: an instruction that changes the payee, amount or method is confirmed only through a contact the buyer already had before the change, never through the details in the new message. The buyer calls the seller’s known number and the bank’s published number; the change is not real. No manager’s cheque is ordered against the new details.

Outcome: the appointment goes ahead on the original, independently confirmed instructions.

Protect private information

Use the agreed secure intake for identity, property and bank records. Do not upload them to a public calculator or include them in an open support comment. Share only the information needed for the relevant purpose and recipient.

Conveyance’s public cost and readiness tools are preparation aids. They do not need your passport or account documents to explain the next question.

Recognise how Conveyance handles payments

Our service payment is made through checkout reached from conveyance.ae. We do not request card details by telephone, email or WhatsApp, and we do not hold the purchase money. Settlement follows the applicable bank and authorised trustee process.

If a message claims otherwise, contact us using the details on our company page before acting.

If you suspect a payment or document problem

Stop the disputed action, preserve the messages and records, and contact the relevant bank or organisation through a known official channel. If a payment has already been made, contact the bank promptly. Obtain appropriate professional or official assistance for the facts of the case.

Do not edit or delete evidence in an attempt to tidy the file. Keep a factual chronology and distinguish what is confirmed from what is suspected.

Prepare an itemised payment schedule

Source: dubailand.gov.ae · reference

Source: conveyance.ae · reference

References