Research carried out by credit agency Experian highlighted 79 out of every 10,000 mortgage applications were found to be fraudulent in August this year. This compares to 82 out of 10,000 for the same period the year before.
The findings showed that mortgages ranked highest for detected fraud followed by current accounts, with card applications third. Savings accounts and loans came fourth and fifth in the table.
First-party fraud is the most common fraud tactic detected among false mortgage applications, whereby the individual named on the application is genuine. Of those fraudulent applications detected, 96% were classed as first-party fraud.
In financial products overall, third party fraud – or identity theft by another – is the most common crime.
The data showed a significant rise in the detection of identity theft as a proportion of all frauds. It accounted for 47% of all fraud cases detected and prevented for the year ended August 2014 compared to 30% of all detected fraud in the year to August 2013.
Nick Mothershaw, UK&I director of identity and fraud at Experian, said: “The significant increase in detected and prevented third party fraud in particular shows how far providers have come in protecting themselves against the tricks of identity thieves, although recent high profile instances of data theft show that there is still much to be done.”
