U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat representing New Hampshire and ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, announced a “broad new effort to protect people from financial scams” in a press release on Thursday. The initiative directly targets concerns highly relevant to U.S. banks and credit unions, including the proliferation of fraud on payment platforms […]
Sen. Hassan vows crackdown on fraud and AI-driven scams Read More »
The real estate industry is facing a $173 million problem. That, according to the FBI, is how much consumers lost to real estate fraud in 2024. It’s a 19% increase from the previous year, and many analysts expect that number to keep rising in the coming years, spurred on in part by AI. AI is
How AI-powered scams are targeting real estate deals Read More »
Flash flooding in Texas, which started on Wednesday and has killed at least 80 people, spawned fraud schemes and scams that attempted to exploit the goodwill and charitable instincts of onlookers. In one instance, the Center Point Volunteer Fire Department, located in hard-hit Kerr County, had its Venmo donation account temporarily suspended after creating it
How fraudsters exploit natural disasters Read More »
Adobe Stock A federal jury has convicted Oluwaseun Adekoya of bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. The case offers an in-depth look at a rising threat to banks and credit unions: identity theft used to steal from customers’ home equity lines of credit. A two-and-a-half-week trial exposed Adekoya as the ringleader
How an identity thief stole $2 million from HELOCs Read More »
A HUD employee has pleaded guilty to making false claims about her remote work activity, costing the government over $200,000. Crissy Monique Baker, 45, of Fairfax, Virginia, will be sentenced in September to a single charge of fraud that allegedly occurred while she was employed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development between 2021
Ex-HUD staffer pleads guilty to false claim over remote work Read More »
The potential for mortgage lending fraud accelerated over the past year, with risk related to undisclosed transaction details driving much of the surge, according to Cotality. In its latest report, the real estate data platform found fraud risk was up 7.3% year over year in the first quarter. Risk lessened over time, though, coming in
Mortgage fraud risk jumps 7.3% in one year Read More »
Mortgage scam reports have soared in recent years, opposite of the housing market’s slowdown. The industry as of April was reporting 71 mortgage scams per month, up from just 14 per month in 2022 at the tail-end of the refinance boom, according to BackOffice Pro, a business services organization. While real estate companies disclosed losses
Mortgage scam reports are soaring despite the slowing market Read More »
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that claws back a number of fraud-related mandates by his predecessor, who the Trump White House claimed had engaged in “censorship” and enabling illegal immigration. The order, which was signed on Friday, preempts multiple efforts initiated by former President Joe Biden in the waning days of his
Trump rolls back some Biden cyber and fraud directives Read More »
Forged checks, false occupancy claims and scams on senior citizens are among the schemes lenders should be aware of as growing interest in home equity lending catches the attention of fraudsters. While home equity lines of credit have been available for decades, the rapid acceleration of mortgage rates over the past three years is raising
What fraud risks do HELOCs pose? Read More »
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s own counsel is reportedly concerned that Trump administration-induced staff cuts could disrupt mortgage operations and increase fraud and litigation risks. The revelations stem from an internal HUD document seen by Bloomberg Citylab, according to an article published Thursday. Staff departures at the regulator could allegedly “greatly delay”‘ or
HUD memo reportedly warns of staff cut impact on mortgages Read More »