Mortgage fraud rises 18%

Research by CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, revealed application fraud jumped 27% in 2010 and now accounts for 96% of all mortgage fraud. By comparison, identity fraud and misuse of facility fraud within the mortgage sector dropped back over 2010, by 59% and 47% respectively, to similar levels as recorded in 2008. The majority of the rise in mortgage fraud over 2010 occurred during the first half of the year, before falling back 14% in Q3 and 9% in Q4. The CIFAS research found 69% of all mortgage fraud was introduced by brokers, which it said was often down to mortgage ca...