UK Mortgage Fraud on the Rise in Q3 2011

According to the latest report by Experian, a global credit information group, the level of mortgage fraud in the UK increased in the summer months of 2011.

As such, there were 49 fraudulent mortgage applications in every 10,000, which represents a 53% increase on Q2 2011 and a 77% increase on the same time last year.

Commenting on the findings, Nick Mothershaw of Experian UK and Ireland, said: "More than 90 per cent of mortgage fraud tends to originate from genuine individuals misrepresenting their financial situations attempting to buy property that would ordinarily be out of reach."

The good news is that loan fraud is the least targeted among other financial products, says Experian.

The figures by Experian are based on the statistics from the two fraud prevenstion systems, National Hunter and Insurance Hunter. They allow banks and insurance companies compare and analyse applications sent by applicants at different times and highlight inconsistencies.

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