NACFB warns brokers against commercial fraudsters

9 September 2009 12:36 pm

According to the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, there has been an upturn in complaints from customers who have been recommended fraudulent commercial brokers.

NACFB chief executive Adam Tyler says: “These so-called ‘commercial brokers’ promise much, charge heavily and deliver nothing. The mortgage adviser, who has introduced his clients in good faith, is left with demands for repayment of upfront fees and a damaged reputation.”

Tyler says he has cases on his desk where a residential mortgage has introduced several cases to one of these ‘brokers’ and lost their clients tens of thousands of pounds.

He says: “Advance fee fraudsters are extremely plausible - they send emails to brokers offering terms unavailable anywhere else in the market. The problem is that after the client has advanced several thousand pounds for valuations or appraisals, no funding is forthcoming.”

The NACFB are advising residential brokers looking to introduce clients to commercial finance specialists to deal with either an NACFB member or with a broker holding an existing good relationship.

Tyler says: “The Association founded the Fraud Intelligence Committee back at the beginning of the year for the purposes of investigating these cases and putting evidence in the hands of the proper authorities. At the current time three cases have been forwarded to the police and Trading Standards for further action and many more are under investigation.”

If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing