Template farms and documentation fraud
Template farms are digital entities such as an online marketplace, messaging, or social media accounts that specialize in the production and/or distribution of editable document templates (IDs, bank statements, utility bills, etc.) further used for financial crimes. These templates are frequently used to create fraudulent documents, helping individuals or organized fraudsters bypass a company’s document verification processes for mortgage underwriting, tenant screening, employment screening, etc.
Affordable and easily accessible, these template farms attract an estimated 600,000 visitors per month combined.
Fraudulent documentation is particularly common in Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML), Insurance, Credit lines and Bank Loans.
Here’s how these template farms look at first glance:
