The gang reportedly pose as potential buyers but pull out of deals at the last minute, having gained enough information on the property through the sales process to obtain title deeds through the Land Registry.
According to the report in the Birmingham Sunday Mercury, the gang then apply for a mortgage on the property without the real owners knowing and convert the money obtained into gold bullion.
One man has already been arrested in the case and will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court next month after being arrested in one Midlands bank trying to withdraw £500,000 made through the scam.
The gang are reportedly targeting building societies in the area, although Yvonne White, spokesperson for Coventry Building Society, insisted they had no knowledge of the case.
She said: “We haven’t encountered this and we will watch out for it. However, from our point of view, we have got robust procedures in place to verify the identities of any potential borrower or saver.”
A source at the Land Registry was quoted by the Birmingham Sunday Mercury as saying: “The registry has never really been hit by identity fraud. The prospect of someone impersonating a genuine home owner and remortgaging their property has never arisen until now. Quite how this was done is still being looked at but the Financial Services Authority, which has been asked to examine the fraudsters’ tactics, is apparently absolutely amazed at how easy it can be to change details on the register.”
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