Rising mortgage application and account takeover frauds in the UK signal a growing threat to the property sector, with experts urging enhanced identity verification methods amid increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics.
Rising mortgage fraud across every reported category is emerging as a troubling signal for the property market, according to Click2Check chief executive David Jones. The warning comes after Cifas reported increases in mortgage application identity fraud, account takeovers, false applications and misuse of facility cases in the first half of 2026.
Cifas said mortgage application identity fraud rose by 36% compared with the same period a year earlier, while false applications climbed 4% to 691, the largest category by volume. Account takeover cases linked to mortgages jumped from one in the first half of 2025 to 27 in the same period this year, and mortgage-related misuse of facility cases increased from three to nine. Cifas has also said overall fraud cases reached a record high in 2025, with identity fraud and account takeovers making up the bulk of reported incidents.
Jones said the pattern showed criminals were adapting quickly, using stolen or fabricated identities and compromised accounts to target lenders, brokers and buyers. He argued that traditional document checks were no longer enough and said the industry needed identity verification at every stage of the mortgage and homebuying process.
The broader backdrop is equally concerning. Cifas has warned that criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence and generative tools to create convincing impersonations and synthetic identities, while The Guardian reported earlier this year that fraud was becoming more advanced and more organised across borders. By contrast, HousingWire reported that mortgage application fraud risk in the US eased in the first quarter of 2026, underlining that the latest UK figures point to a more acute domestic problem. Jones said the rise in fraud threatened not only lenders but also the integrity of the whole transaction chain, and he called digital verification an essential part of a secure and efficient homebuying process.
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