Old Scam Targets Homeowners Who've Refinanced

Listen up, mortgagees: Did you hear the one about the new company that's going to service your refinanced loan? It's just a step away from the Nigerian royal who needs your help and is willing to give you half his fortune for just a few thousand dollars of your nest egg.

In a mortgage-related scam currently making the rounds, con artists have been sending letters to borrowers instructing them to send their mortgage payments to their new loan servicer. But the new company doesn't exist -- and by the time borrowers realize they've been snookered, they're behind in their payments by a month or two.

As columnist Lew Sichelman warns, it's an old scam that's seeing new action, as crooks prey on folks who've recently refinanced and may be dealing with unfamiliar loan-servicing centers. And with eight weeks of consistently dropping interest rates, the refi pipeline is overflowing with ripe new victims.