Detective Chief Inspector, Andy Fyfe, whose role it is to investigate and bring to court mortgage fraud cases, is to provide a ‘warts-and-all’ insight into mortgage fraud at the ASTL conference next week.

The DCI will reveal the insider’s view of mortgage fraud from a police and prosecutors’ perspective. He will cover how people go about trying to commit mortgage fraud and the measures the police go to uncover it and to bring perpetrators to justice. He will also look at identity fraud, the impact of money laundering, the growth in cyber crime and the threat that poses to businesses.

Finally he will also cover the risk of people inside businesses committing fraud from within; and the steps that lenders and other companies can take to minimise this. The DCI will also give more detail on the scams people try to pull, what his office does in the case of fraud being reported and the likely penalties imposed on the fraudsters.

The conference, entitled ‘Bridging – Opportunities and Challenges’, takes place on Tuesday 16 September at Painters’ Hall in the City of London. It is open to all lenders, intermediaries, financial advisers, bankers, solicitors and surveyors, plus anyone else who will be affected by the short term lending market.

Benson Hersch, chief executive of the ASTL, said: “Fraud, in all of its guises, is something that affects every lender both regulated and unregulated. The DCI will give a view from the perspective of the police which few are likely to have heard and which is sure to prove immensely valuable to all lenders and intermediaries.”

Fyfe said: “There are growing incidents of both mortgage and identity fraud and many of the frauds are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The methods that the police use are also increasingly advanced and we will talk about some of the measures that lenders can take to work with police to uncover and prevent these crimes.”