Thrifty Loans

It seems that fake payslips are being sold on the Internet to enable borrowers to show their high income so that they can take out loans and mortgages that they cannot really afford. This is of course a fraudulent practice.

There has been a proliferation of websites offering to provide bogus salary slips without any checking of the validity of their earnings claims. A new report shows that it can cost as little as £10 a time to buy a payslip of and end-of-year P60 form online, and they will put whatever name, company details and wage levels you wish to see.

Britons have continued to increase their debts in recent years, with more than £1.2 trillion borrowed for mortgages, loans, overdrafts and other debts. Lenders have relaxed criteria over the years, with ten times income mortgages on offer, and self-certification mortgages enabling consumers to cut through restrictions. Institutions do not always check details as thoroughly as they should with employers.

Those companies offering these payslips online cannot guarantee to check the truth of what the applicant is telling them because most of the information is protected by the Data Protection Act.

Of course, while lenders are potentially being lied to borrowers could be digging a big financial hole for themselves by building up so much debt – more than they can really afford. As consumer debt continues to rise, it is thought that this fake payslip practice may be making a significant contribution as it is obviously so easy to exaggerate your earnings for the purposes of succeeding in a mortgage application beyond your means. But there are no rules to stop these websites from continuing their practice, although most sites do include a disclaimer saying that the forms should be used for legal purposes only.

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