MORTGAGE FRAUD BY IDENTITY THEFT ON THE RISE

The real estate market in the US is huge and wherever there is money to be made identity thieves will strike. According to the FBI last year identity thieves skimmed $1 billion from the $3 trillion US mortgage market.

Unfortunately for the victims the financial costs of recovery are large and cannot be passed on to someone else. Victims typically spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers and in court costs to extract themselves from mortgage frauds. Real estate is not purchased on credit cards and there is no “friendly” bank that will assist you in recovering from the financial impact of this crime.

The scams are many but they often involve con men purchasing your home and then rapidly reselling the home or refinancing the home. Using false identities with forged identity documents the purchaser arranges financing, or takes owner financing. Within moments of completing a deal the home is often sold to another unsuspecting victim or refinanced in such a way as to yield quick cash. The thief then assumes another identity and dissapears leaving the victims to clean up the financial mess.

The real estate market is slowing down and police authorities expect that mortgage fraud is likely to rise. Why? Desperate and anxious sellers will not scrutinize deals and buyers as they have in the past. Using con artist skills, mortgage fraudsters take advantage of a buyers desire for a quick sale.

Not all real estate fraud and theft involves an interaction between the seller and the buyer. Often the identity thief commits the crime simply using forging skills and access to public records.

One recent report about identity thief and con artist Bevin Cox illustrates the enormous cost of this criminal activity. Cox identified his victims by studying the MLS (multiple listing service) ads for real estate. He studied title documents, visited the court house for property records, all the while making copies of critical documents.

Using basic forging skills he created false bills of sale and then either sold the property to others or refinanced the property directly with banks.

Cox is thought to have taken more than $15 million in these criminal transactions. He is now on the run from the law. The Secret Service wants to see him and he is considered armed and dangerous.

Our Identity Theft Most Wanted blog has carried a description of Cox since August 15. You can visit the Most Wanted blog by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this blog.