A rash of cases have been uncovered where the identity of appraisers approved for government mortgages have been stolen.
The cases involve someone using the state certification number of an appraiser on the roster of the Federal Housing Administration.
Those whose certification numbers were fraudulently utilized were unaware of the fraud until it came to light usually on accident.
A fraud bulletin from the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development outlined the fraud.
The notice indicated that most of the schemes happened when FHA appraisers provided their personal identification numbers for desktop appraisal software to a colleague or supervisor in order to speed up the process.
But providing PINs increases the risk, according to the OIG.
More than a dozen reports of identity theft have been received by the OIG over the past couple years.
The bulletin highlighted cases in California, Illinois and Washington
that yield prison sentences up to five years.
“Appraisal fraud, including appraiser identity theft, is a concern to the Appraisal Subcommittee,” Appraisal Subcommittee Director James R. Park said in a statement. “In general, appraisal fraud appears to have declined over the past several years. However, the specter and reality of appraisal fraud continues.”
