Between April 2022 and March 2023, the total number of fraud cases reached 1.1 million, a 15.3 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Identity theft and impersonation is one of the common types of fraud, whereby criminals often steal someone's identity through the use of forged or stolen identity documents, then use that false identity to sell, mortgage or remortgage someone else's property, and eventually make off with large sums of money.

Stolen identities can also result in property deeds being altered to enable the criminal to register the property in their own name or the name of an accomplice.

Chris Hodgkinson, Managing Director of Apex Bridging, said: "The sheer amount of money involved in property can be hard to resist for both career criminals and the lucky breaks.

Whether it's stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds through mortgage fraud or a few hundred pounds through rent scams, the cases are numerous and growing.

Landlords and professionals alike need to do everything they can to minimise the risk of property fraud.

This means only dealing with respected and trustworthy organisations and service providers and being alert to any red flags.

Criminals often succeed because honest people lack discretion and due diligence. At Apex Bridging, we carry out rigorous identity checks to protect our business and borrowers, but everyone needs to play their part in making it as difficult as possible for these fraudsters to succeed.

Apex Bridging has analysed the number of fraud and computer misuse offences recorded by Action Fraud or referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in England and Wales between April 2022 and March 2023 and looked at how these figures compare to the previous 12 months.

Mortgage fraud is another common type of property fraud where criminals attempt to steal money from financial institutions or private lenders through the mortgage process.

Over the past year, mortgage fraud in England and Wales has increased by 32.8 per cent, the second highest increase of all banking and credit sector fraud.

The relatively good news is that the total number of identified cases (1,723) makes it the second least common form of fraud in the banking and credit industry, accounting for just 0.2 per cent of the total number of cases in the sector.

Another common form of property fraud is tenancy fraud, where potential tenants are tricked into paying an upfront fee to rent a property that does not normally exist.

Rental fraud had a lower but still more prominent annual growth rate (5.1 per cent) than mortgage fraud, with 5,098 cases reported throughout the year. This figure also makes it the third most common form of pre-payment fraud, accounting for 11.2 per cent of all cases.

You are most vulnerable to property fraud if you are a landlord, live overseas, have an empty property, have an unmortgaged property or are not registered with HM Land Registry (HMLR).

To prevent becoming a victim of property fraud, you can register the deeds with HMLR, use strong passwords when it comes to sensitive personal data and be cautious when using public or unfamiliar Wifi.

Property professionals need to be vigilant when clients show signs of eagerness without explanation, as well as being wary of clients who are reluctant to provide information or answer basic questions. If the seller of a property doesn't actually live in the property, it's worth carrying out additional due diligence; if there are any changes to a client's bank account during the sale or purchase process, this is also a red flag that needs to be watched closely.