Interthinx Collaborates with Leading Industry Professionals to Create Effective Fraud Prevention

January 1, 2011 / 4 min read

Project will premiere at MBA Quality Assurance Conference

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Sept 18, 2006 — FSISM: Fraud Scheme Investigation will premiere during the Sept. 27 luncheon at the MBA’s Quality Assurance Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. This unique mortgage fraud prevention training video, sponsored and produced by Interthinx, reflects the style and parody of a popular primetime television series to demonstrate the characteristics and “red flags” of a complicated property flipping scheme. FSI was inspired by actual events.

Interthinx™, an ISO business, and leading mortgage professionals joined forces on a year long project to create a fresh and effective training video to help the industry fight the onslaught of mortgage fraud schemes nationwide. The FBI has warned that mortgage fraud “is an epidemic” that “could have as much impact as the Savings and Loan crisis.”

“FSI is a direct result of concerned industry professionals who were committed to the delivery of a training tool that would not only capture the attention of today’s mortgage banking employees, but provide a battle cry to be heard beyond the mortgage industry,” said Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx.

Pre-order requests for the free FSI DVD have not only come in from lenders of all sizes, but also from various police departments, the FBI, Organized Crime Commissions and the US Department of Justice.

“With FSI, Interthinx has once again established its continued commitment to the mortgage banking industry,” said Rachel Dollar of Dollar Law Firm, founder of MortgageFraudblog.com and a story consultant on FSI. “I am continually searching for new and innovative methods of bringing fraud prevention messages and measures to the industry and commend Interthinx and the production team on their creation of the most engaging training tool I have encountered. The FSI movie sets a new standard for fraud training and establishes the bar by which other providers will be measured.”

FSI is a 30-minute story by Emmy Award winning writer Mary E. Harris that is loosely based on a real property flipping scam. It is performed slightly “tongue in cheek” by a cast which includes professional actors and mortgage industry experts. The DVD also contains 25 individual chapters on topics that include different types of fraud schemes and fraudulent practices, loan file red flags shown in the film and best practices for the mortgage industry. Mortgage professionals from around the country participated as story consultants, DVD chapter consultants and made actual appearances in either the film or chapters.

“FSI needs to be the beginning of collaboration by industry professionals committed to working as a team with no regard to the corporate logo on a paycheck,” said Lee Ann Butts, senior risk analyst for American Home Mortgage and head story consultant for FSI. “What deserves special notice is that FSI was the brainchild of Interthinx, who realized the importance of doing things differently. Interthinx made sure that the moral of the story was not a product plug. The message is that it takes the right balance of training and technology, along with a commitment from the industry as a whole, to create the best defense against mortgage fraud.”

"The FSI project was a great collaboration between fraud savvy industry professionals and Interthinx,” said Brenda Phillips, vice president of Closing and Asset Quality for NationPoint as well as a story/chapter consultant with a special appearance in FSI.

Julie Woodley, vice president of QC/Risk for Saxon Mortgage, also a story/chapter consultant with a special appearance in FSI, said, “Employees will be simultaneously entertained and educated, and industry audiences will not be bored or lost, and will be in love with this cutting-edge way of learning. The key is in looking for clues that could include the title of a popular 1980s love song!”

Jeanne DeLormier, vice president and chief credit officer for Liberty Home Lending, added, “Fraud impacts everyone — not just those of us in the mortgage industry, but the people and the neighborhoods that can be so horribly affected by housing fraud. Kudos to Interthinx for letting us create a dramatic 'show & tell' against fraud to help open people's eyes and defeat these criminals.”

About Interthinx
Interthinx is the nation’s leading provider of automated fraud protection, compliance and decision support tools for the mortgage industry. Used by 15 of the top 20 lenders, Interthinx combines its National Fraud Protection Database (NFPD) along with advanced technology and data collection to offer the most comprehensive fraud detection system available. Interthinx helps to bridge the gaps left by traditional manual fraud detection by enabling the increase of front-end efficiencies while improving quality control and profitability. Its multi-faceted approach to risk management includes innovative training programs designed for greater retention and immediate results. More than 1,100 customers rely on Interthinx, an ISO business, for automated scientifically-based solutions, historical analysis and consistent data collection. For more information, visit www.interthinx.com or call 1-800-333-4510.

About ISO
ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and human resources. Clients use ISO’s databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the U.S. and around the world, ISO services help customers protect people, property and financial assets.

Release: Immediate

Contact:
Michael DiVirgilio MWW Group
213-486-6560
MDiVirgilio@mww.com