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Updated November 17th Related Posts Link to automotive form, business form
As Valentine’s Day approaches, hearts will melt, but some will inevitably be broken by romance scams. This season of love creates an opportune moment for scammers to prey on individuals feeling lonely or seeking connection. Financial institutions should take this time to warn customers about the heightened risks and encourage vigilance against fraud. In a tale as heart-wrenching as it is cautionary, a French woman named Anne was conned out of nearly $855,000 in a romance scam that lasted over a year. Believing she was communicating with Hollywood star Brad Pitt; Anne was manipulated by scammers who leveraged AI technology to impersonate the actor convincingly. Personalized messages, fabricated photos, and elaborate lies about financial needs made the scam seem credible. Anne’s story, though extreme, highlights the alarming prevalence and sophistication of romance scams in today’s digital age. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nearly 70,000 Americans reported romance scams in 2022, with losses totaling $1.3 billion—an average of $4,400 per victim. These scams, which play on victims’ emotions, are becoming increasingly common and devastating, targeting individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Financial institutions have a crucial role in protecting their customers from these schemes. The lifecycle of a romance scam Romance scams follow a consistent pattern: Feigned connection: Scammers create fake profiles on social media or dating platforms using attractive photos and minimal personal details. Building trust: Through lavish compliments, romantic conversations, and fabricated sob stories, scammers forge emotional bonds with their targets. Initial financial request: Once trust is established, the scammer asks for small financial favors, often citing emergencies. Escalation: Requests grow larger, with claims of dire situations such as medical emergencies or legal troubles. Disappearance: After draining the victim’s funds, the scammer vanishes, leaving emotional and financial devastation in their wake. Lloyds Banking Group reports that men made up 52% of romance scam victims in 2023, though women lost more on average (£9,083 vs. £5,145). Individuals aged 55-64 were the most susceptible, while those aged 65-74 faced the largest losses, averaging £13,123 per person. Techniques scammers use Romance scammers are experts in manipulation. Common tactics include: Fabricated sob stories: Claims of illness, injury, or imprisonment. Investment opportunities: Offers to “teach” victims about investing. Military or overseas scenarios: Excuses for avoiding in-person meetings. Gift and delivery scams: Requests for money to cover fake customs fees. How financial institutions can help Banks and financial institutions are on the frontlines of combating romance scams. By leveraging technology and adopting proactive measures, they can intercept fraud before it causes irreparable harm. 1. Customer education and awareness Conduct awareness campaigns to educate clients about common scam tactics. Provide tips on recognizing fake profiles and unsolicited requests. Share real-life stories, like Anne’s, to highlight the risks. 2. Advanced data capture solutions Implement systems that gather and analyze real-time customer data, such as IP addresses, browsing history, and device usage patterns. Use behavioral analytics to detect anomalies in customer actions, such as hesitation or rushed transactions, which may indicate stress or coercion. 3. AI and machine learning Utilize AI-driven tools to analyze vast datasets and identify suspicious patterns. Deploy daily adaptive models to keep up with emerging fraud trends. 4. Real-time fraud interception Establish rules and alerts to flag unusual transactions. Intervene with personalized messages before transfers occur, asking “Do you know and trust this person?” Block transactions if fraud is suspected, ensuring customers’ funds are secure. Collaborating for greater impact Financial institutions cannot combat romance scams alone. Partnerships with social media platforms, AI companies, and law enforcement are essential. Social media companies must shut down fake profiles proactively, while regulatory frameworks should enable banks to share information about at-risk customers. Conclusion Romance scams exploit the most vulnerable aspects of human nature: the desire for love and connection. Stories like Anne’s underscore the emotional and financial toll these scams take on victims. However, with robust technological solutions and proactive measures, financial institutions can play a pivotal role in protecting their customers. By staying ahead of fraud trends and educating clients, banks can ensure that the pursuit of love remains a source of joy, not heartbreak. Learn more
As data breaches become an ever-growing threat to businesses, the role of employees in maintaining cybersecurity has never been more critical. Did you know that 82% of data breaches involve the human element1 , such as phishing, stolen credentials, or social engineering tactics? These statistics reveal a direct connection between employee identity theft and business vulnerabilities. In this blog, we’ll explore why protecting your employees’ identities is essential to reducing data breach risk, how employee-focused identity protection programs, and specifically employee identity protection, improve both cybersecurity and employee engagement, and how businesses can implement comprehensive solutions to safeguard sensitive data and enhance overall workforce well-being. The Rising Challenge: Data Breaches and Employee Identity Theft The past few years have seen an exponential rise in data breaches. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were 1,571 data compromises in the first half of 2024, impacting more than 1.1 billion individuals – a 490% increase year over year2. A staggering proportion of these breaches originated from compromised employee credentials or phishing attacks. Explore Experian's Employee Benefits Solutions The Link Between Employee Identity Theft and Cybersecurity Risks Phishing and Social EngineeringPhishing attacks remain one of the top strategies used by cybercriminals. These attacks often target employees by exploiting personal information stolen through identity theft. For example, a cybercriminal who gains access to an employee's compromised email or social accounts can use this information to craft realistic phishing messages, tricking them into divulging sensitive company credentials. Compromised Credentials as Entry PointsCompromised employee credentials were responsible for 16% of breaches and were the costliest attack vector, averaging $4.5 million per breach3. When an employee’s identity is stolen, it can give hackers a direct line to your company’s network, jeopardizing sensitive data and infrastructure. The Cost of DowntimeBeyond the financial impact, data breaches disrupt operations, erode customer trust, and harm your brand. For businesses, the average downtime from a breach can last several weeks – time that could otherwise be spent growing revenue and serving clients. Why Businesses Need to Prioritize Employee Identity Protection Protecting employee identities isn’t just a personal benefit – it’s a strategic business decision. Here are three reasons why identity protection for employees is essential to your cybersecurity strategy: 1. Mitigate Human Risk in Cybersecurity Employee mistakes, often resulting from phishing scams or misuse of credentials, are a leading cause of breaches. By equipping employees with identity protection services, businesses can significantly reduce the likelihood of stolen information being exploited by fraudsters and cybercriminals. 2. Boost Employee Engagement and Financial Wellness Providing identity protection as part of an employee benefits package signals that you value your workforce’s security and well-being. Beyond cybersecurity, offering such protections can enhance employee loyalty, reduce stress, and improve productivity. Employers who pair identity protection with financial wellness tools can empower employees to monitor their credit, secure their finances, and protect against fraud, all of which contribute to a more engaged workforce. 3. Enhance Your Brand Reputation A company’s cybersecurity practices are increasingly scrutinized by customers, stakeholders, and regulators. When you demonstrate that you prioritize not just protecting your business, but also safeguarding your employees’ identities, you position your brand as a leader in security and trustworthiness. Practical Strategies to Protect Employee Identities and Reduce Data Breach Risk How can businesses take actionable steps to mitigate risks and protect their employees? Here are some best practices: Offer Comprehensive Identity Protection Solutions A robust identity protection program should include: Real-time monitoring for identity theft Alerts for suspicious activity on personal accounts Data and device protection to protect personal information and devices from identity theft, hacking and other online threats Fraud resolution services for affected employees Credit monitoring and financial wellness tools Leading providers like Experian offer customizable employee benefits packages that provide proactive identity protection, empowering employees to detect and resolve potential risks before they escalate. Invest in Employee Education and Training Cybersecurity is only as strong as your least-informed employee. Provide regular training sessions and provide resources to help employees recognize phishing scams, understand the importance of password hygiene, and learn how to avoid oversharing personal data online. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) MFA adds an extra layer of security, requiring employees to verify their identity using multiple credentials before accessing sensitive systems. This can drastically reduce the risk of compromised credentials being misused. Partner with a Trusted Identity Protection Provider Experian’s suite of employee benefits solutions combines identity protection with financial wellness tools, helping your employees stay secure while also boosting their financial confidence. Only Experian can offer these integrated solutions with unparalleled expertise in both identity protection and credit monitoring. Conclusion: Identity Protection is the Cornerstone of Cybersecurity The rising tide of data breaches means that businesses can no longer afford to overlook the role of employee identity in cybersecurity. By prioritizing identity protection for employees, organizations can reduce the risk of costly breaches and also create a safer, more engaged, and financially secure workforce. Ready to protect your employees and your business? Take the next step toward safeguarding your company’s future. Learn more about Experian’s employee benefits solutions to see how identity protection and financial wellness tools can transform your workplace security and employee engagement. Learn more 1 2024 Experian Data Breach Response Guide 2 Identity Theft Resource Center. H1 2024 Data Breach Analysis 3 2023 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report
In case you’ve never heard of it, a Babel fish is a small translator; that allows a carrier to understand anything said in any form of language. Alta Vista popularized the name but I believe Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, should be given credit for coining the term. So, what does a Babel fish have to do with Knowledge Based Authentication? Knowledge Based Authentication is always about the data – I have said this before. There is one universal truth: data doesn’t lie. However, that doesn’t mean it is easy to understand what the data is saying. It is a bit like a foreign language. You may have taken classes, and you can read the language or carry on a passable conversation, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to enter into a contract – at least, not without an attorney who speaks the language, or your very own Babel fish. Setting up the best Knowledge Based Authentication configuration for risk management of your line of business can sometimes seem like that contract in a foreign language. There are many decisions to be made and the number of questions to present and which questions to ask is often the easy part. To truly get the most out of fraud models, it is necessary to consider where the score cuts that will be used with your Knowledge Based Authentication session will be set and what methodology will be used to invoke the Knowledge Based Authentication session: objective score performance, manual review and decision, etc. It is also important to consider the “kind of fraud” you might be seeing. This is where it is helpful to have your very own Babel fish – one designed specifically for fraud trends, fraud data, fraud models and Knowledge Based Authentication. If your vendor doesn’t offer you a Babel fish, ask for one. Yours could have one of many titles, but you will know this person when you speak with them, for their level of understanding of not only your business but, more importantly, your data and what it means. Sometimes the Babel fish will work in Consulting, sometimes in Product Management, sometimes in Analytics – the important thing is that there are fraud-specific experts available to you. Think about that for a minute. Business today is a delicate balance between customer experience/relationship management and risk management. If your vendor can’t offer you a Babel fish, tell them you have fish to fry – elsewhere.
By: Staci Baker With the increase in consumer behaviors such as ‘strategic default’, it has become increasingly difficult during the past few years for lenders to determine who the most creditworthy consumers are – defining consumers with the lowest credit risk. If you define risk as ‘the likelihood of [a consumer] becoming 90 days or more past due’, the findings are alarming. From June 2007 to June 2009, Super Prime consumers (those scoring 900 or higher) in the U.S. have gone from an average VantageScore® credit score* of 945 to 918, which increased their risk level from approx. 0.12% to 0.62% – an increase of 417% for this highly sought after population! Prime and near prime risk levels increased by 400% and 96% respectively. Whereas subprime consumers with few choices (stay subprime or improve their score), saw a slight decrease in risk, 8% – increasing their average VantageScore® credit score from 578 to 599. So how do lenders determine who to lend to, when the risk level for all credit tiers increases, or remain risky? In today’s dynamic economy, lenders need tools that will give them an edge, and allow them to identify consumer trends quickly. Incorporating analytic tools, like Premier Attributes, into lender’s origination models, will allow them to pinpoint specific consumer behavior, and provide segmentation through predefined attribute sets that are industry specific and target profitable accounts to improve acquisition strategies. As risk levels change, maintaining profitability becomes more difficult due to shrinking eligible consumer pools. By adding credit attributes, assessing credit risk both within an organization and for new accounts will be simplified and allow for more targeted prospects, thus maximizing prospecting strategies across the customer lifecycle and helping to increase profitability. * VantageScore®, LLC, May, 2010, “Finding Creditworthy Consumers in a Changing Economic Climate”
We've blogged about fraud alerts, fraud analytics, fraud models and fraud best practices. Sometimes, though, we delude ourselves into thinking that fraud prevention strategies we put into place today will be equally effective over time. Unfortunately, when a rat finds a dead-end in a previously-learned maze, it just keeps hunting for an exit. Fraudsters are no different. Ideally we want to seal off all the exits, and teach the rats to go and do something productive with their lives, but sadly that is not always the case. We also don't want to let too many good consumers get stuck either, so we cannot get too trigger-happy with our fraud best practices. Fraud behavior is dynamic, not static. Fraudsters learn and adapt to the feedback they receive through trial and error. That means when you plug a hole in your system today, there will be an increased push to seek out other holes tomorrow. This underscores the importance of keeping a close eye on your fraudsters' behavior trends. But there must be some theoretical breaking point where the fraudsters simply give up trying–at least with your company. This behavioral extinction may be idealistic in the general sense, but is nonetheless a worthy goal as related to your business. One of the best things you can do to prevent fraud is to gain a reputation amongst the fraudsters of, "Don't even try, it's not even worth it." And even if you don't succeed in getting them to stop trying altogether, it's still satisfying to know you are lowering their ROI while improving yours