There is no respite from fraudsters as mortgage fraud by identity thieves is reported to be on the increase.
One technique used by criminals is to apply for mortgages using the names of people who have recently died.
Another is to hack databases or intercept the emails exchanged between clients and solicitors in order to divert payments.
Since the year began, the proportion of crimes attempted by fraudsters rose by 6%, according to credit checking company Experian.
Historically, this type of fraud has accounted for 4% of detected mortgage application fraud.
But while ID theft has gone up in mortgage fraud, other types of mortgage scam attempts dropped significantly so far this year compared to 2015. These attempts were running at 83 in every 10,000 applications, but for 2016 that has dipped to 66 in every 10,000.
Nick Mothershaw, a fraud expert at Experian, called the jump from 4% to 6% “worrying”.
“Because of the values involved, the impact on people’s lives can be devastating.”
The Conveyancing Association (CA) has launched a Cyber Safe Scheme to help its members overcome the threat of fraud. A factsheet will outline the risks and ways to reduce them as well as bank account details of the solicitors so customers can verify it against any request for payment.
The CA also urges customers to test the system by first sending “the smallest amount possible” and then check to see if it has been received.
