Mortgage fraud is not only a troubling issue in the United States, but a major problem in the United Kingdom too, according to data released by Experian.
For the fifth consecutive year, the rate of mortgage fraud increased compared to the prior year. In 2011, there was an 8% rise in year-over-year fraudulent mortgage applications in the United Kingdom.
Approximately 34 in every 10,000 mortgage applications were deemed to be fraudulent last year throughoutthis region, compared to just a 15 to 10,000 ratio seen in 2006.
More than 90% of attempted mortgage fraud throughout the country was due to individuals misrepresenting their personal information on applications. Typically, these first party frauds involved falsifying employment status or financial information, and, in most cases, attempting to hide an adverse credit history.
Experian said the terraced melting pot—young, poorly educated individuals living in small towns—and the suburban mindsets—predominantly middle aged, middle and skilled working class people—were both responsible for around 15% of first party mortgage fraud cases in 2011.
The young, educated professionals were also prone to attempting mortgage fraud, Experian said, as they accounted for 13% of the overall cases.
“About 70% of financial services application fraud in the UK is down to first parties misrepresenting their circumstances, and the products such as mortgages and insurance that have seen fraud soar over the last year have a significant first party fraud element to them. This kind of fraud trends to originate from financially stressed segments of society,” said Nick Mothershaw, director of identity and fraud at Experian’s UK & I division.
