A shocking new mortgage fraud case, reported by the i newspaper, has revealed that a couple, who wish to remain anonymous, were selling a home in West London in February but had their identities stolen by a fraudster posing as a property buyer. 

The scammer contacted the estate agency selling the property pretending to be a representative of a legitimate buying agency, and proceeded to book two appointments to view the property, during which key details of the couple’s personal details were obtained and their identities stolen. 

These were then used to successfully commit mortgage fraud by obtaining an £800,000 mortgage against the property. The money was then wired to a bank account with an almost identical name to that of a reputable London conveyancing solicitor, but which was instead controlled by the fraudster. 

Despite the attempts to steal their identities being reported to the police, no action was taken as identity theft is not a police recordable crime, Action Fraud says. The scammer then went on to attempt a further nine frauds on the property, including several bridging loans. 

The newspaper says it was a diligent mortgage broker at Tapton Capital, who had been approached by the fraudster to organise yet another loan against the property, who then checked with the owner in person that they had applied for the loan and uncovered what had been going on.