Jeff Moyer, president of Interthinx said there is an uptick in fraud risk over the past three years as purchase transactions continue to dominate the market. The annual Mortgage Fraud Risk Report for 2013 found that Greeley, Colo., was the riskiest Metropolitan Statistical Area for occupancy fraud risk.
“What this year’s report clearly demonstrates is the effect of changing markets on fraud operations,” said Ashley Woodworth, vice president of business development and corporate strategy at Interthinx. “In previous years, when refinances dominated the market, we saw higher instances of employment and income fraud. Now that the market has shifted to the purchase arena, we’ve seen a corresponding increase in occupancy fraud.”