Posts by Joan Ferenczy

Recently, Freddie Mac broke up a “ring” of former industry professionals operating a “company” that falsified the income, employment, and assets of their clients to qualify them for mortgage relief they would not normally have been eligible for. Every file this company sent in had identical paystub templates and bank account statements that did not belong to their clients.

Can you spot the fraud in this rental ad? It looks like your typical Internet home-for-rent ad. This one happened to be on Craigslist and the fraud could cost an unwary renter thousands of dollars. Here’s the scam: the advertiser doesn’t own the house at the address. Freddie Mac does. It was never for rent and it’s scheduled to close next month. (Craigslist immediately pulled the ad after they were notified about the problem.)

Unfortunately, we’re hearing more reports about fraudsters trying to cash in on the housing crisis’s remaining foreclosed homes by advertising them as rentals on the Internet. It works like this. Once the house is sold at foreclosure, the fraudster posts an ad online and tries to rent it before it can be sold to a new owner. People contacting the fraudster about the ad are asked to submit their personal credit information as part of the lease application plus two month’s rent.

Mortgage fraud doesn't look like a TV crime scene with yellow tape and flashing lights. It generally doesn't show up on security camera footage or in the sort of dramatic photos that make the front page or go viral on the Internet. That's because mortgage fraudsters, like any predators, rely on camouflage to hide their intentions and lull their victims into a false sense of security.

Freddie Mac's fraud investigation team has over 20 years of field experience uncovering such "camouflage" and helping law enforcement agencies prosecute mortgage fraudsters.