First American CREDCO Announces Free Fraud Protection for Mortgage Cus

POWAY, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First American CREDCO, the leading provider of specialty credit reports to the mortgage, automotive and consumer finance industries and a member of The First American Corporation family of companies, announced plans to help protect their new and existing mortgage customers by offering its Fast Alert screening report, the industry's most comprehensive fraud and identity theft protection, for free during the month of May.

Recent news stories involving the identity theft of hundreds of thousands of individuals have left both business owners and consumers wondering how safe they really are. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, identity theft has become one of the country's fastest growing crimes. Last year, an estimated 9.3 million Americans, or one in every 23 adults, were victims of identity fraud. The Federal Trade Commission reports that fraud costs American businesses approximately $48 billion each year. Increasingly, the mortgage industry has become a prime target for fraud and identity thieves. The FBI recently announced a five-fold increase in instances of mortgage fraud since 2001. First American CREDCO's "Fraud Awareness Month" is part of a concentrated effort to help protect its customers against this growing threat.

"Between 10 and 15 percent of all home loan applications involve some form of fraud or misrepresentation," said Kathy Manzione, president of First American CREDCO Mortgage. "The best defense against fraud and identity theft is increased due diligence, especially when it comes to verifying applicant information. We want our customers to know that they have additional options to protect themselves, and that Fast Alert is the industry's most powerful solution for detecting these types of fraud."

Unlike any other tool, First American CREDCO's Fast Alert gathers all of the available fraud data from the three national bureaus, supplements it with additional fraud information from other data sources and consolidates everything into one easy-to-read format with clear messages indicating when further verification is required.

"By tapping more data sources than any other tool and crosschecking applicant-provided information, Fast Alert takes fraud prevention to the next level," said Manzione. "It helps ensure that our customers receive the highest level of protection available. And during the month of May, they can get it for free."

As part of First American CREDCO's Fraud Awareness Month, all mortgage customers are eligible to receive free Fast Alert reports with every credit report they order between May 1 and May 31, 2005. For more information on this free trial offer, please call (866) 406-7209.

First American CREDCO, a member of the First American Family of Companies, processes millions of credit transactions annually and is the industry's technology and service leader. The company is the leading provider of specialty credit reports to the mortgage, consumer finance and automotive industries. First American CREDCO proudly serves a broad range of lending and retail markets with a variety of business information products and services. More information about the company can be found at http://www.credco.com/.

The First American Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that traces its history to 1889. As the nation's largest data provider, the company supplies businesses and consumers with information resources in connection with the major economic events of people's lives, such as getting a job; renting an apartment; buying a car, house, boat or airplane; securing a mortgage; opening or buying a business; and planning for retirement. The First American Family of Companies, many of which command leading market share positions in their respective industries, operate within six primary business segments, including: Title Insurance and Services, Specialty Insurance, Mortgage Information, Property Information, Credit Information and Screening Information. With revenues of $6.72 billion in 2004, First American has 31,000 employees in approximately 2,000 offices throughout the United States and abroad. More information about the company and an archive of its press releases can be found at http://www.firstam.com/.

Media Contact: Aimee Friend Senior Marketing & PR Specialist First American CREDCO (619) 938-6809 afriend@firstam.com