The research identified the top 15 fraud indicators based on their ability to help predict a negative outcome within 12 months after a renter applied for a lease. Another leading indicator was having eight or more credit inquiries within four days, further underscoring the predictive strength of unusually high inquiry activity.
TransUnion analyzed more than 1.1 million renters who moved during 2024 and tracked charge-offs within one year after moving as a proxy for fraud-related risk.
Top Five Fraud Indicators on Renter Applications
|
Type of Indicator |
Percentage of Renters Who Have Charge-offs Within 12 Months of Applying |
|
15 or more credit inquiries within the past seven days |
32% |
|
Current address is a truck stop |
30% |
|
Eight or more credit inquiries within the past four days |
23% |
|
Extended fraud alert on file |
22% |
|
Listed phone number is governmental |
20% |
“The average rental housing provider writes off…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025