Fraud Files

In its May 2005 “Financial Crimes Report to the Public,” the FBI described its efforts to combat various types of fraud, including mortgage fraud. The bureau, which recently consolidated its mortgage fraud operations within its Financial Institution Fraud Unit, identified 26 states with “significant mortgage fraud problems.” The top 10, ranked by incidents per capita: Michigan, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. Pending mortgage fraud cases rose from 436 in 2003 to 534 in 2004 and hit 642 through the second quarter of 2005.