Loan & Advance-Fee Fraud
First-party loan fraud, loan stacking across lenders, synthetic-identity applications, and advance-fee scams where a borrower pays an upfront fee for a loan that never materialises. Indicators include fabricated or inflated income, rapid multi-lender applications, and identity inconsistencies.
What it is
First-party loan fraud, loan stacking across lenders, synthetic-identity applications, and advance-fee scams where a borrower pays an upfront fee for a loan that never materialises. Indicators include fabricated or inflated income, rapid multi-lender applications, and identity inconsistencies.
Control objective
Detect fraudulent loan applications, loan stacking, synthetic identities, and advance-fee scam flows to prevent credit losses and laundering of scam proceeds.
Data required
- Application data (declared income, employment, affordability)
- Identity verification and document authenticity results
- Cross-lender application velocity signals where available
- Device, IP, and application metadata
- Bank-statement and income-corroboration data
- Disbursement destination and post-funding behaviour
- Inbound advance-fee payment patterns and references
- Synthetic-identity indicators (thin file, mismatched data points)
Related typologies (Fraud)
Unusual Business Activity vs Declared Profile
Transaction activity that is materially inconsistent with the customer's declared business profile, sector, or expected turnover, potentially indicating front company activity, invoice fraud, or undisclosed business changes.
Authorised Push Payment (APP) Fraud
Social engineering schemes where victims are manipulated into authorising real-time payments to accounts controlled by fraudsters. Includes impersonation of banks, HMRC, solicitors, and romance scams, with losses often irrecoverable once funds are moved through mule networks.
Insurance & Claims Fraud
Fraudulent insurance claims including staged or fabricated losses, inflated or exaggerated claim values, duplicate claims across insurers, and organised claims rings operating across multiple policyholders. Proceeds are extracted as claim settlements and may be laundered through linked bank accounts.
Business Email Compromise & Invoice Redirection
Business email compromise and mandate or invoice redirection fraud. Attackers impersonate suppliers, executives, or counterparties to redirect legitimate payments to fraudster-controlled accounts using altered bank details, often followed by rapid layering through mule accounts to extract funds.
Romance & Investment Scams
Romance and investment scams, including pig-butchering, where victims are manipulated over time into sending payments to scam-controlled bank accounts or crypto wallets. Payments are often escalating, made to fake investment platforms, and rapidly layered or converted to crypto by the receiving network.