Mortgage providers on fraud target list

Mortgage providers will take an estimated £1.2bn hit this year as they are targeted by fraudsters, an Experian report concludes.

According to the fraud consultancy's latest Insight report, the recession will lead to increased attempts to obtain mortgage and other financial services products illegitimately.

Mortgage fraud rates have remained fairly steady at 20 frauds in every 10,000 applications since early 2008, rising in line with new applications.

Experian says sub-prime and self-certification deals - the availability of which, most agree, sparked the gloabl credit crunch - will be fraudsters' primary targets.

Nick Mothershaw, Experian director of fraud and identity solutions, says firms should prepare for an increase in fraud.

"Organisations must be prepared to ensure they can effectively manage the risks [fraud] exposes them too," he says.

"Consumers can help protect themselves against the devastating effects of identity fraud by monitoring their credit reports.

"Financial institutions need to take a more holistic approach to fraud, including sharing fraud data with other firms and ensuring that robust controls are in place across the business."