FBI Reports INCREASE IN CYBER FRAUD, MORTGAGE LENDERS PRIME TARGETS

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released its annual Internet Crime Report. (Read it here: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2021_IC3Report.pdf) The annual report which catalogues data on various cyber crimes estimates that in 2021 overall losses were nearly $7 billion dollars, noting that “America experienced an unprecedented increase in cyber attacks and malicious cyber activity.” On March 21st, […]

Fraud expected to increase with drop off in loan volume

The mortgage industry is cyclical. If you have been in the industry long enough you know the reality of living and working in an industry where fortunes ebb and flow with volume and revenue. The flip side of the volume and revenue flow chart is the accompanying increase in fraud cases in origination and closings […]

New CFPB Director Confirmed, Aggressive Litigation and Rule Enforcement Predicted

As we predicted after the Biden-Harris Administration took office, there was always going to be a new-look CFPB with a more aggressive approach to oversight. After several months the U.S. Senate has finally confirmed Rohit Chopra as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a vote of 50 to 48 in favor. Mr. Chopra, […]

CFPB Releases summary of consumer mortgage complaints 2018-2020

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a highly detailed report of consumer complaints received by the oversight agency regarding the lifecycle of various financial transactions, including mortgage loans. The report breaks down complaints by category, geography, and racial and other demographics and describes interesting variances between the nature of complaints among races, ethnicity, and various […]

Long Island Man Uses Fake Wire Instructions to Steal $4.7 Million from Lenders

A Long Island man, Brent Kaufman, pleaded guilty this week to stealing $4.7 million in mortgage refinancing proceeds that were meant to pay off the existing mortgages of his clients. Kaufman was an unlicensed mortgage broker and assisted clients in Queens and Long Island with refinancing their mortgages. Instead of using the lender proceeds, which […]

US Secret Service: Mortgage Payoff Fraud On the Rise

The U.S. Secret Service issued an advisory warning of a significant increase in wire transfer fraud involving efforts to substitute fraudulent mortgage payoffs and thereby divert proceeds for criminal gain. The government agency reported that criminals send fictitious or altered mortgage payoff statements to title companies, attorneys and others acting as a closing or settlement […]

ALTA: Wire Fraud Attempted in a Third of All Mortgage Closings Nationwide

According to a report this evening by the American Land Title Association (ALTA), a recent survey of their members reflected that “cyber criminals attempted to trick employees to wire funds to a fraudulent account in a third of all real estate and mortgage transactions.” ALTA’s report went on to state however that “training and education […]

CFPB RESCINDS TRUMP ADMIN ABUSIVENESS POLICY STATEMENT AND REAFFIRMS STRONGER ENFORCEMENT APPROACH

The CFPB announced today that is rescinding its January 24, 2020 policy statement, “Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices.” As reported by the NJ MBA, “Going forward, the CFPB intends to exercise its supervisory and enforcement authority consistent with the full scope of its statutory authority under the Dodd-Frank Act as […]

CFPB “Hiring Spree” Signals New Enforcement Posture

As we have written here before, the election of the Biden-Harris ticket was sure to foretell a new regulatory approach to managing banks and banking. Given the “loosening” of oversight in the previous four years where nary a nasty audit was to be found and headline screaming consent orders were few and far between, it […]

Wire Fraud Remains a Key Cyber Liability Issue for Banks. Here Are Some Best Practices

It is only in the past several years that banks and mortgage lenders have faced heightened risk from wire fraud losses. In this time period lenders have been forced to uncover and defend the wide-spread use of various cyber schemes, including basic phishing using mass-market emails, spear phishing, using cyber intrusion tactics to go after […]