Print friendly version 27 Aug 2010

Scottish crackdown on mortgage fraud

The Scottish Police College is training up a new team to tackle mortgage fraud, along with identity theft and online crime, at a sophisticated level.

The College is also improving the fraud courses it runs and doubling the number of spaces available on its training schemes, with extra places being offered to people who work at the sharp end in banks and other financial institutions.

Mortgage fraud has been a serious problem in the UK for many years and the incidence of criminal activity in the sector appears to have increased further since the onset of the credit crunch in 2007. By 2008, mortgage fraud was estimated to be worth £1bn a year.

Detective Superintendent Rab McLaren, head of crime management division at the Scottish Policing College, said: "We carried out consultations with the private sector and financial institutions like the Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Standard Life, as well as the City of London and the police academy in the Netherlands. We wanted to bring together experts to facilitate networks between investigators.

"Mortgage fraud has become quite a problem. This course is about giving investigators the tools and the ability to have access to information and databases to track individuals."

Mortgage fraud ranges from simple scams, such as an individual with a false identity borrowing funds to buy a property and then disappearing, to criminal rings involving dishonest brokers and solicitors fraudulently acquiring large property portfolios.


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