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It’s December, and as I settle in for another Scandinavian winter, I’m looking back on the current year with an eye toward what will happen in the next. Predicting the future is an annual pursuit at FICO, and this year my 2021 fraud predictions for the European region reflect how some of the broad trends that shaped 2020 will mutate into specific fraud challenges in t…

Electronic payments have paved the way for new and old authorised push payment (APP) scams to hit the UK market, with a 40% rise in 2019; 56% of Europeans surveyed experienced at least one type of fraud/scam in 2018/2019. Fraud scams are a concern for every fraud manager. In my last post, I discussed three best practices for fighting scams. Now let’s look at how an…

A fraudster’s perfect storm has broken in the UK. When the country voted in favour of Brexit in June 2016, it signalled the start of a long, painstaking journey to split from the European Union. Politicians clashed over trade deals, European citizens living in the UK became unsure of their residential status, and newspaper headlines provoked more questions than they a…

The UK is home to the most sophisticated Authorized Push Payment (APP) scams in the world. In 2019, banks’ losses of £456 million nearly equaled the £470 million attributed to card not present (CNP) fraud. Now, in 2020, APP scams are expected to eclipse card fraud, fueled by niche schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. FICO has just published my new Q&A on t…

The ‘courier scam’ is a global issue that intensified late last year and presented another worrying trend in the new world of digital payments and card scams. Courier scams have long been a problem, but the threat has gathered momentum in recent months, as fraudsters have found a lot of success and will continue the ‘winning’ formula while they still can find a v…

It’s June, a special month for honoring loved ones, especially parents and grandparents by raising Elder Abuse Awareness.  World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is officially June 15th and it’s an ideal time to educate oneself on how to protect elders from becoming victims of financial abuse. All too often, elders today are the targets of residential real estate f…

In the build-up to Euro 2021, the countries of Europe hold their breath, experience sleepless nights and cold sweats in anticipation of the trials and tribulations of a football tournament. This led me recently to a ‘once in a blue moon’ purchase – England shirts for myself and the family – and I was frankly shocked to see the number of payment mechanisms and BNPL (Bu…

Imagine this: You could be at your bank, waiting in line on a regular day, and see a con unfold before your very eyes. Here’s what it might look like: An elderly gentleman almost pleading with the branch manager on the other side of a Plexiglas divide, asking her to send a wire for $12,000. Every few seconds the gentleman says a few words into his mobile phone, on spe…

If your institution saw an increase in ACH transactions last year, you’re not alone. NACHA, the payments clearing house through which ACH transactions flow, reported a banner year in 2020, posting an 8.2% increase in volume and a 10.8% increase in dollar value over 2019. Additionally, ACH internet transactions rose 15% from 2019 to 2020. As it happens,…

In part 1 of this blog series my colleague defined NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens. Now, I’m going to cover what it means for the wider financial crime space. It is well known that dealing in art can be a vehicle for money laundering and terrorist finance. We saw this in the Panama Papers as well as the FinCEN files. I think NFTs are even better for illi…