Mortgage fraud in the UK looks set to increase, according to a financial expert, but the extent of the issue is not fully clear.
Neil Munroe, a spokesperson for information solution group Equifax, made his comments to the publication of the KPMG Fraud Barometer, which showed that mortgage fraud in the UK had almost quadrupled in value during the first half of 2010.
He said that matters are likely to get worse before they get better and noted that there is often a time lag between when a case is spotted and when it goes to court. With this, there could be some major fraud activity that has yet to come through the system.
“If we see property prices continue to be depressed, we probably will see more and more of these cases being identified and coming to court,” Mr. Munroe noted.