When given the opportunity, criminals will target whom they perceive as the weakest among us. And that notion could become even more apparent as Utah and the nation cope with the bursting of the real estate and economic bubbles.

The Salt Lake office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Utah Division of Real Estate have compiled a list of the potential top five mortgage related rip-offs in 2010. Chief among them: a reverse mortgage scam targeting the elderly.

“Scam artists are always looking for new ways to reinvent the same crime,” said Michelle Pickens, special agent and mortgage fraud coordinator with the FBI. “The reverse mortgage scam is based off the ‘straw buyer’ model where they use senior citizens … against their own mortgages.”

Reverse mortgages can be a legitimate way for homeowners to take equity from their homes without a monthly payment, which can be especially useful to seniors who need supplemental income during retirement, she said.

Unfortunately, con artists sometimes convince seniors they can live in a home for free, obtain a home loan under the occupant’s name and disappear with the equity, while leaving the victim to repay the mortgage.

Pickens, who is also a member of the white-collar crime squad, said her agency implores homeowners to investigate any third-party offers to take over their mortgage by contacting the FBI or the state real estate division.

“They’ve got to be very careful and very ‘due diligent’ to make sure the company or individual they’re (working with) is legitimate,” she said.

Others schemes to be aware of include short-sale fraud, in which a homeowner and a lender agree to sell a property for less than the mortgage amount. The fraud occurs when a distressed homeowner finds a prospective buyer and they secretly set a different sale price.

Unbeknownst to the lender, the buyer is willing to pay more for the property and the homeowner pockets the difference.

Another “kickback” scam is the builder bailout, which is more common in areas affected by a large surplus of unsold properties, an FBI release stated. A homebuilder offers excessive “incentives” to a buyer, but the incentives are disclosed as a down payment, leading the lender to believe there is equity in the property. Under those circumstances, the builder and the buyer are committing fraud.

Fourth on the alert list are loan modifications in which companies charge up to $2,000, promising to make a homeowner’s mortgage payment more affordable. But some homeowners report that they didn’t get what they paid for, the release said.

The final scam on the list is affinity fraud, where con artists pretend to be members of or exploit their membership in a particular religious, ethnic or professional group.

They often enlist respected community or religious leaders from within the group to spread the word about the scheme. Many times those leaders become unwitting victims of the fraudster’s ruse.

For consumers, the important thing is to perform the necessary diligence to avoid becoming a victim of fraud, Pickens said.

“If something sounds fishy, then question it and contact the FBI,” she said.

For more fraud tips or information on how to file a complaint with the FBI, visit saltlakecity.fbi.gov or call 801-579-1400. Consumers can also visit the Utah Division of Real Estate Web site at realestate.utah.gov.

Found here.