WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- U.S. mortgage fraud is "pervasive and growing," the FBI said Wednesday in a report that noted the number of such cases had nearly doubled in three years.
The number of mortgage fraud FBI cases reached 818 in 2006 from 436 in 2003, the bureau said.
But "the true level of mortgage fraud is largely unknown," the bureau said in its annual report on financial crimes.
This is because a significant portion of the mortgage industry does not have to report fraud cases, the report said.
In addition, fraud is often concealed or distorted as mortgage products are repackaged and sold on secondary markets, the report said.
The FBI defined mortgage fraud as involving two broad crimes: "fraud for profit," which is generally committed by industry insiders and involves practices such as falsely inflating property values, and "fraud for housing," which is committed by borrowers and involves actions such as acquiring a house under false pretenses.
Eighty percent of all reported fraud losses involve fraud for profit, the report said.
