FBI: Beware of mortgage fraud.....

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"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- FBI officials Tuesday disclosed complaints of mortgage fraud are piling up at record levels this year, and appear certain to shatter last year's record.

Financial institutions received 33,359 "suspicious activity reports" through the first six months of the current fiscal year, which ended April 30, compared with 46,717 for the entire previous year, the FBI said.

"We could be headed for 70,000 for this year," said FBI spokesman Stephen Kodak, who acknowledged the increased complaints to be among the reasons FBI Director Robert Mueller predicted last month the mortgage fraud problem will get worse this year.

The new volume of formal complaints buttresses Mueller's public warning that "as housing prices continue to fall, more financial misdeeds will no doubt come to light."

FBI warns mortgage fraud is on the rise - May. 13, 2008