COMMENTARY: FINANCIAL CRIME Cracking the case: But banks and financial crime will ‘always be in tension’, says Harris
Fraud’s most wanted and the private AI A growing ecosystem of super-criminals, middlemen and hackers, combined with the chaos and digital upheaval of a pandemic, has put Cloud-based fraud prevention top of the agenda, says Richard Harris, EVP for Global Sales at risk management platform Feedzai You don’t need us to tell you that cyber-crime has exploded since the start of the pandemic. If you received any dodgy-looking emails from your boss or a colleague, demanding urgent action, you were not alone. Impersonation scams sky-rocketed by 600 per cent as criminals preyed upon people working from home. According to research by Scamadvisor. com, these shady characters hoovered up a staggering €36billion and counting over 2020, with 140 million scams reported across 30 countries. It’s estimated that three per cent of the global population got stung in one way or another, from straightforward identity theft to fake lotharios conning victims out of money through online dating. But sadly, due to the embarrassing nature of scams, a meagre seven per cent
66
TheFintechMagazine | Issue 20
got reported, and the lack of a centralised reporting system in most countries means even less action is taken. So, the problem is probably much bigger than we even realise. Everyone from the regulators to the anxious business manager is pulling their hair out, trying to limit exposure to these revenue-draining tricks. Cyber-criminals are not just limited to using the internet as a vector, either. Computer programmes with menacing automated voices are now calling business owners and threatening them with fake prison sentences for unpaid tax. Algorithms are also being used to detect vulnerable people, who criminals manipulate into handing over their pensions. Around eight million people were targeted by pension fraudsters in 2020, a 45 per cent increase on the year
before. And, sadly, more than £54million in pensions has already been reported lost – with much more expected to follow. “This is organised crime on a massive scale,” observes Richard Harris, EVP for global sales for fraud detection platform Feedzai. “This isn’t a matter of a few people misusing a card to buy a bit of extra stuff. These are large criminal enterprises making huge amounts of money.” Security systems are surrounded by droves of marauding amateurs, hacking away day and night; it’s a constant shark frenzy. But the serious villains are facilitated by the dark web. “There are now businesses on the dark web that monetise the ability to carry out attacks,” says Harris. “Fraud’s a gold rush, so people are going to sell shovels. You’ve middlemen in the criminal underworld making and selling attack www.fintechf.com
