Checklist · Residential Conveyancing & Property
Verification of identity and payment-redirection (deepfake) fraud checklist for conveyancing
Checklist for verifying client identity, right to deal and payment instructions in electronic conveyancing, with controls against AI-generated fake identity documents and voice- or video-cloned payment instructions.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use at engagement for every conveyancing client, again before signing the client authorisation and any registry instrument, and whenever bank details or settlement directions change. It supplements, and does not replace, the firm's AML/CTF program.
How AI may be used
Lawyer-led. AI liveness and document-checking tools may support verification, but the Verification of Identity Standard requires a face-to-face, in-person interview, and the lawyer decides whether reasonable steps were taken.
AI may
- Run document authenticity and liveness checks as an additional step, with results saved to the file.
- Compare names, dates of birth and addresses across identity documents, title and contract and flag mismatches.
- Flag emails whose sender domain, reply-to address or wording differs from earlier messages on the file.
AI must not
- Must not be treated as meeting the Verification of Identity Standard by itself; video or AI checks are not a face-to-face in-person interview.
- Must not change payee bank details or settlement directions on the strength of an email, call, voice note or video message alone.
- Must not upload identity documents to an AI tool that is not approved by the firm for identity data or that may use inputs for training.
The lawyer checks
- The method used (VOI Standard or other reasonable steps) is recorded, with reasons if the Standard was not used.
- Right to deal has been checked against title and any authority (power of attorney, probate, company resolution).
- Every change to payment details was confirmed by a call to a number obtained independently at engagement.
- AML/CTF customer due diligence has been completed under the firm's program.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Residential Conveyancing & Property
- Contract for sale: prescribed documents and vendor disclosure checklist (NSW, with Vic and Qld notes)
- Victorian section 32 vendor statement (official guidance and completion guide)
- Queensland seller disclosure statement (Form 2) and prescribed certificates: completion guide
- Section 66W certificate (waiver or shortening of the cooling-off period) with explanatory note and file note (NSW)
- Letter of advice to a residential purchaser on the contract and searches before exchange (NSW)
- Client notice: how we use AI in your conveyancing matter
All precedents for Residential Conveyancing & Property · Tasks and AI use in this area