Credit rating agency Experian said that attempts at mortgage fraud rose to 32 attempts for every 10,000 applications.

Attempted frauds typically involved individuals inflating the prospects or status of their employment and personal finances, not disclosing previous addresses or attempting to conceal an adverse credit history.

The rise comes despite banks tightening lending criteria dramatically since the beginning of the credit crisis.

Nick Mothershaw, director of identity and fraud at Experian, said: “Fraud in the UK has been fuelled by the recession’s aftermath, and it is likely that financial services providers could see fraud attempts rise during 2011.

“To manage the financial and reputational risk fraud presents, organisations must ensure they have the right defences in place to allow rigorous validation and verification of identities and information while still being able to provide the convenience and experience genuine customers expect.”

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Last month, research by CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, revealed that 69% of all mortgage fraud was introduced by brokers, which it said was often down to mortgage cases being conducted at a distance, with the adviser never meeting the applicant face to face.

Richard Hurley, CIFAS communications manager, said: “The threat of mortgage fraud has not gone away, and it must be viewed in its proper context as the latest in a series of changes that have taken place over several years.”

Catherine Fisher, an Associate at Barlow Robbins LLP added: “It’s not completely surprising that, in the face of tightening credit criteria and decreasing loan to value ratios,  people who have little hope of getting a mortgage if they submit an honest application, are turning to fraud to obtain loans. 

“Lenders are proactive with fraud prevention measures and more attempted frauds are being uncovered pre-approval. 

“We see our lender clients taking fraud seriously; no one is complacent about this issue. For example, The Council for Mortgage Lenders has done some excellent work providing training, seminars and a forum for knowledge sharing.”