.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} It’s scary enough when you’re driving on a busy highway and suddenly realize that you’re depending on the good judgment of all those other dopes to avoid death. And they’re all on their cellphones. Or reading.

It’s even worse when you realize your financial future is in the hands of maniacs on Wall Street, fellows who got into stock trading because they lack the patience for video poker.

But maybe the most unnerving feeling of all arrives when you contemplate, not the wackos who make the world a difficult place by accident, but the cutthroats who do it on purpose.

For example, it appears we’re living in the Golden Age of Mortgage Fraud.

According to FCW.com, the Federal Crimes Enforcement Network reported that suspected mortgage loan fraud rose 35 percent in the past year. This means Americans recognized that their fellow citizens were in a precarious situation and immediately responded by cooking up ways to make things worse.

It’s not exactly “The Greatest Generation, Part II.”

If you don’t know how to commit mortgage fraud, but it sounds like something that would interest you, here are some examples you might want to practice at home:

“Mortgage Fraud Blog” reports that Clifford J. Brigham of Portland, Ore., was found guilty of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and Social Security fraud. Cliff’s specialty was the “straw buyer” scheme.

What you do is, you find people with good credit and pay them to complete mortgage loan applications and buy houses. Don’t worry, you tell them, I’ll make those pesky payments. “Brigham obtained nearly 30 loans totaling over $5 million,” MFB reports, “but he never made a single loan payment as promised. Brigham, meanwhile, earned nearly $400,000 from the sales.”

“Earned” might not be the right word, but you get the idea.

The Voice of San Diego reported on that city’s experience with the “cash back at closing” gambit. This involves a listing agent and an appraiser who’s a willing accomplice. They raise the asking price for a house, a lender approves a loan for the pumped-up amount and the sale is made; the seller gets his asking price, the buyer pockets what’s left from the loan and the agents take home higher commissions.

“Many of the lenders that allowed the price to be adjusted have gone out of business,” the Voice reports. “The implosion in recent months of mortgage lenders that specialized in the zero-down, no income verification loans used widely in these cases has begun to dry up the occurrences of deals that look like fraud.”

See, the system works. In the same way that a good forest fire reduces the mosquito population.

In Atlanta, Phillip Hill invited people to swanky parties in a luxurious mansion. “He asked to use their names and credit histories in real estate deals, promising to make them rich,” The Washington Post reported. “Most got $10,000 checks on the spot for signing up.” Hill was dispatched to federal prison, but only after ringing up 400 fraudulent loan applications.

The same article reported on Gerald Small, who “pocketed $21.5 million and bought two jets after he got bogus home loans using personal information from people who responded to a help-wanted ad.” And in Kansas City, Brent Barber paid residents of a low-income neighborhood $2,000 each to use their names in 300 fraudulent loan applications.

From a ritzy dinner party to a low-income neighborhood – it’s nice to know that the American dream is spread evenly across this great land. No matter how much or how little people may have, they’re always open to an offer to cheat somebody else out of whatever they have.

The whole credit crisis could go on for a long time, dragging down financial institutions and making folks desperate. If it keeps bringing out the worst in us instead of our noble side – we still have that, right? – the loss of billions of dollars won’t be the only cost to the country.

As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

I’ve resisted the temptation to steal that line for years. But, I don’t know, theft doesn’t seem to be such a big deal anymore.