Your offer has been accepted. Then an email arrives: “Please note our bank details have changed. Kindly send the deposit to the account below.” It looks like the agent’s usual email. The logo is right, and the tone is friendly and a little urgent.
Do not send anything yet. A last-minute change of bank details is the classic sign of payment fraud, and international property buyers are a favourite target. Large amounts, cross-border transfers and email conversations in two languages make it easy to slip in a fake IBAN.
Once a transfer has gone through, getting the money back is difficult and often impossible. A careful check before you pay is worth more than any legal remedy afterwards.
Never confirm new bank details by replying to the email that gave them to you.
Short answer: what should you do?
Do not pay. Call the agent, the seller or the notary on a phone number you already had before the email arrived: from their official website, an earlier contract or a business card. Ask them to confirm the account holder’s name and the IBAN by reading them out to you. If anything does not match, report it to your bank immediately.
If you have already paid, call your bank now, not tomorrow. Acting quickly is the only real advantage you have.
The five signs that should stop you
| Sign | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Bank details change at the moment of payment | Real businesses rarely change accounts mid-transaction |
| The account is abroad or in a different country from the payee | An Italian agency or seller using a foreign account needs an explanation |
| The account holder’s name is different from the person you are paying | The deposit should go to the party named in the offer, or to an account the contract identifies |
| Unusual urgency: “today”, “before the seller accepts another offer” | Pressure is designed to stop you checking |
| Small changes in the email address | One letter, a different domain ending or a free email provider |
None of these proves fraud by itself. Each one is a reason to stop and confirm through a separate channel.
Who should actually receive the deposit?
Before you check the IBAN, check whether the account matches what your offer says. Your offer or preliminary contract should state how the deposit is paid and to whom. Usually it goes to the seller. Sometimes the agent holds it under agreed terms, and sometimes a notary is involved.
If the email asks you to pay someone the contract does not mention, that alone is a problem, even if the email is genuine. The legal effect of your payment depends on the contract, not on the email. For what the payment actually means, read Caparra vs Deposit When Buying Property in Italy.
How to verify bank details properly
- Use a number you already trust. Not the phone number in the suspicious email or its signature.
- Ask the payee to read the details out to you. Do not read them out yourself and ask “is this right?”.
- Check the account holder’s name, not only the IBAN. The name should match the person or company entitled to receive the money.
- Watch what your bank tells you. For euro transfers between banks in the SEPA area, banks now check the beneficiary’s name against the IBAN before you confirm. If your bank shows a mismatch or a partial match, stop. If you are paying from outside the SEPA area or in another currency, this check may not happen, so the phone call matters even more.
- Send a small test amount only after confirming by phone, and ask the payee to confirm receipt. A test payment to a fraudster’s account proves nothing.
Keep a written record of who you called, when, and what they confirmed.
The safest way to pay the balance at completion
For the final balance, Italian law offers a strong safeguard. If either party asks, the notary must hold the price in a dedicated account in the notary’s name and pass it to the seller only after the deed has been registered and transcribed. You pay the notary, not the seller, and the notary’s details can be confirmed directly with the notary’s office.
This mechanism applies to the deed, not to the deposit you pay with an offer or preliminary contract. For those earlier payments, verification by phone is your main protection. For how the notary’s role differs from your lawyer’s, see Italian Notary vs Independent Lawyer.
What if you have already paid?
Act within hours:
- Call your bank immediately and ask it to try to stop or recall the transfer. Give the date, amount and recipient details.
- Contact the receiving bank if your bank can tell you which one it is.
- Report the fraud to the police. In Italy, online fraud is handled by the Polizia Postale. Report it in your own country as well.
- Tell the real agent, seller and notary, using numbers you trust. Their email account may have been compromised, and other buyers may be at risk.
- Keep everything: the emails, including full headers if possible, the transfer receipt and your call log.
Do not assume the money is lost, and do not assume it will come back. Recovery depends on how quickly you act and on where the money went.
What does this mean for your purchase?
Fraud does not cancel your obligations. If you paid a fraudster, the seller has not received the deposit, and the deadline in your offer may still be running. Tell the seller in writing what happened, using a trusted channel, and ask for a short extension while the situation is clarified. Get advice before the deadline passes. What happens next depends on the offer wording and on what the parties agree.
A practical example
A couple from Edinburgh has an accepted offer on a house near Lucca. Two days before the deposit is due, they receive an email apparently from the agency: the “usual account is being audited”, so please pay into a new account at a bank in another EU country. The email address is identical except for one extra letter.
Instead of replying, they call the agency on the number printed on the original offer. The agency has sent no such email. Its email account had been accessed, and the fraudster had been reading the conversation for weeks. The couple pays the seller’s account as stated in the offer, after the seller confirms the details by phone.
The fraud failed because of one phone call to a number they already had.
Before you transfer any deposit
- The recipient matches the person or account named in my offer or contract.
- I confirmed the IBAN and account holder by phone, on a number I already trusted.
- I did not use any contact detail from the email that announced new bank details.
- My bank’s beneficiary check, if available, showed a full match.
- I know what the payment is legally and when it can be lost or recovered.
- I have a written record of the confirmation.
How Govoni Law helps
Govoni Law acts only for buyers. Before you pay, we can review the offer or preliminary contract, check that the payment clause identifies the right recipient and account, and make sure the deposit terms protect you. We do not handle payments, hold funds or investigate fraud; your bank and the police do that.
If you have a draft offer and a payment request, the Before You Sign Brief is the right first step. For other payment questions, see Italian Bank Account for Foreign Buyers: Do You Need One? and What Documents Should You Ask for Before Buying Property in Italy?
Frequently asked questions
Can an Italian estate agent change bank details mid-transaction?
It is possible but unusual. Treat any change as suspicious until you have confirmed it by phone on a number you already had.
Is it safe to pay the deposit by bank transfer?
Yes, if you pay the right recipient. The risk lies less in the transfer itself than in sending it to an account you have not properly verified.
Will my bank refund me if I paid a fraudster?
Not automatically. If you authorised the payment yourself, recovery depends on how quickly you act and on where the money went. Call your bank immediately.
Does the Italian notary protect the deposit?
The notary’s dedicated account protects the price at the deed, if requested. Deposits paid earlier, with the offer or preliminary contract, usually go directly to the seller or as the contract states.
Should I pay the deposit if my offer deadline is today?
Not before verifying the details. A short, documented delay agreed in writing is better than an irreversible payment to the wrong account.
About to pay a deposit on an Italian property? Send us the offer draft and the payment request before you transfer. We will do our best to reply to your request as soon as possible and tell you who the contract says you should pay and whether your deposit is protected. A careful review before the transfer costs far less than trying to recover money sent to the wrong account.