While mortgage experts caution against the impending housing bubble, the housing market continues to boom. Like all hot markets, the scammers can't stay away when they get a whiff of money. Mortgage industry researchers report that mortgage based scams are on the rise and are bilking Americans for millions every year. The FBI estimates that they received 17,000 incidents of mortgage fraud from lenders during the previous year.

Let's take a look at some of the mortgage scams out there:

1) Mortgage cheats inflate the mortgage price on homes in and around Atlanta and swindle close to $20 million from homeowners.

2) Scammers buy foreclosed homes at a reduced price. They then create false appraisal values and then sell the homes using the false appraisal values.

3) Internet scammers solicit individuals with bad debt and have the owners sign over the ownership papers to them using quitclaim deeds. The scammers tell the homeowners to refinance their properties and the proceeds of the loan is then split between the owners and the scammers. In this case, the alleged perpetrators of this mortgage scam are being tried in court on these charges.

If you are looking to refinance or get a home loan, buyer beware -- mortgage scammers are out there. This is one of the reasons that it is so important to go with a reputable company, especially if you are considering a bad credit loan or hard money loan. This subset of the mortgage industry has a higher than average number of sleazy characters. Make sure you read all of the documentation very carefully -- it might be the most costly decision you make!