Payment Details | Lockings Solicitors

Making online payments is often the easiest way to ensure that your financial obligations are met on time. But with that ease comes risk. If very large sums are involved like when you’re buying and/or selling a property or even much smaller sums like when paying for will writing services, you want to know that your payments are as safe and secure as possible.

Cybercrime is an ever-present threat for businesses and the people that use them. Criminals will use various tricks and scams to gain access to your personal details, and they can make life extremely difficult.

At Lockings, we take your cybersecurity seriously. While it’s easy to assume that cybercriminals only target large corporations, the fact is that smaller businesses and private individuals are far more likely to be targeted by those with malicious intent particularly with the large sums of money involved in conveyancing.

CYBERCRIME – IT HAPPENS – DON’T BE FOOLED!

We have listed our bank details here so that you know you’re only ever sending a legitimate payment for our services.

Our Bank Details for payments to us are:

Lockings Legal Services Limited

Sort code: 20-43-56
Account number: 53309207

For international payments:

Swift BIC code: BARC GB22
IBAN-GB26 BARC 204356 53309207

We consider our cyber security and the protection of our clients to be of paramount importance. Unfortunately, we cannot protect your systems from being hacked.

Criminal gangs may hack your computer and alter emails or even send spam emails to get you to send large sums of money to criminals when you believe you are sending them to your solicitor.

Please – Don’t let this be you!

Tips to Protect Yourself from Cybercriminals

There are some simple ways to protect yourself online. Here are some of the most basic steps to take, although if you’re getting serious about protection against cybercrime, this guide from The National Cyber Security Centre can help. However, you can boost your protection by doing the following.

Be Suspicious

If you receive an email requesting payment from Lockings (or anyone else), always treat that email as suspicious. Cybercriminals are very smart, and they can make emails look very official. So no matter where it seems an email has originated from, always check it thoroughly before you make any payments, click on any links, or update any personal details.

We will never send our bank account details via email, and you will know well in advance when a payment to us is due.

Double Check Payment Requests

If you do receive an email from Lockings about payment for services, no matter how legitimate it looks, always take the time to double-check it. You can do this by calling the Lockings team on 01482 300200. We will confirm that the email has been sent and ensure that you have the correct bank details. This makes sure that your payment is safe.

We will never change our bank details, so once you have those recorded, you can be sure that any payments you make to us will be legitimate. Always double check before making any online payments, whether to Lockings or anyone else.

Cybercriminals Aren’t Going to Target Me

One of the biggest problems with cybercrime is that it’s easy to assume that criminals aren’t targeting you. Not true. Unfortunately, individuals are more likely to be targeted by cybercriminal gangs because of the large sums of money involved, particularly in conveyancing, and because they don’t think about it or don’t think it will happen to them. So they don’t take the time to implement robust cybersecurity measures.

Cybercrime keeps on evolving too, and new threats are emerging all of the time. To avoid this ongoing threat, learning the basics of online safety is essential. The more you know how to recognise suspicious emails, where your online details are stored, and how your data is used, the easier it will be to stay safe online. The most common ways that cybercriminals get your information, including your financial info, is through:

• Email fraud
• Phishing scams (where they send a link for you to click that exposes your system)
• Theft of your personal information
• Theft of your payment details
• Ransomware attacks (where they gain access and infect your systems and accounts so that they are unusable until you pay a fee).

The good news is that you can take some simple steps to protect yourself from cybercriminals. Always make sure that you:

• Use strong passwords that you change regularly (a password manager can help with this)

• Always update your computer’s security software, as those updates are often the result of a specific threat.

• Activate two-factor authentication on all of your accounts and devices

• Never open a suspicious-looking email.

• Always keep your passwords safe and never share them.

• Never give your personal info to any organisation or person that requests them without first checking they are who they say they are.

• Destroy/shred any invoices or bank statements that show your account details, name, and address, as this is all some fraudsters need.

Stay Safe Online with Lockings Solicitors

Despite the threats, some simple precautions will give you a much better chance to stay safer online. Remember, the team at Lockings are only a phone call away if you receive any communication from us and want to double-check it. Call 01482 300200, and we can confirm whether a payment request has been made.

If you want to pop into one of our offices to make payments or to confirm a payment request, you can visit our offices in Beverley, Hull, and York. Alternatively, get in touch via telephone, fax, email, or through our handy contact form.