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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
By: Heather Grover In my previous blog, I covered top of mind issues that our clients are challenged with related to their risk based authentication efforts and fraud account management. My goal in this blog is to share many of the specific fraud trends we have seen in recent months, as well as those that you – our clients and the industry as a whole – are experiencing. Management of risk and strategies to minimize fraud is on your mind. 1. Migration of fraud from Internet to call centers – and back again. Channel specific fraud is nothing new. Criminals prefer non-face-to-face channels because they can preserve anonymity, while increasing their number of attempts. The Internet has been long considered a risky channel, because many organizations have built defenses around transaction velocity checks, IP address matching and other tools. Once fraudsters were unable to pass through this channel, the call center became the new target, and path of least resistance. Not surprisingly, once the industry began to address the call center, fraud began to migrate, yet again. Increasingly we hear that the interception and compromise of online credentials due to keystroke loggers and other malware is on the rise. 2. Small business fraud on the rise. As the industry has built defenses in their consumer business, fraudsters have again migrated — this time to commercial products. Historically, small business has not been a target for fraud, which is changing. We see and hear that, while similar to consumer fraud in many ways, small business fraud is often more difficult to detect many times due to “shell businesses” that are established. 3. Synthetic ID becoming less of an issue. As lenders tighten their criteria, not only are they turning down those less likely to pay, but their higher standards are likely affecting Synthetic ID fraud, which many times creates identities with similar characteristics that mirror “thin file” consumers. 4. Family fraud continues. We have seen consumers using the identities of members of their family in an attempt to gain and draw down credit. These occurrences are nothing new, but sadly this continues in the current economic environment. Desperate parents use their children’s identities to apply for new credit, or other family may use an elderly person’s dormant accounts with a goal of finding a short term lifeline in a bad credit situation. 5. Fraud increasing from specific geographic regions. Some areas are notorious for perpetrating fraud – not too long ago it was Nigeria and Russia. We have seen and are hearing that the new hot spots are Vietnam and other Eastern Europe countries that neighbor Russia. 6. Falsely claiming fraud. There has been an increase of consumers who claim fraud to avoid an account going into delinquency. Given the poor state of many consumers credit status, this pattern is not unexpected. The challenge many clients face is the limited ability to detect this occurrence. As a result, many clients are seeing an increase in fraud rates. This misclassification is masking what should be bad debt.
— by Heather Grover I’m often asked in various industry forums to give talks about, or opinions on, the latest fraud trends and fraud best practices. Let’s face it – fraudsters are students of their craft and continue to study the latest defenses and adapt to controls that may be in place. You may be surprised, then, to learn that our clients’ top-of-mind issues are not only how to fight the latest fraud trends, but how they can do so while maximizing use of automation, managing operational costs, and preserving customer experience — all while meeting compliance requirements. Many times, clients view these goals as being unique goals that do not affect one another. Not only can these be accomplished simultaneously, but, in my opinion, they can be considered causal. Let me explain. By looking at fraud detection as its own goal, automation is not considered as a potential way to improve this metric. By applying analytics, or basic fraud risk scores, clients can easily incorporate many different potential risk factors into a single calculation without combing through various data elements and reports. This calculation or score can predict multiple fraud types and risks with less effort, than could a human manually, and subjectively reviewing specific results. Through an analytic score, good customers can be positively verified in an automated fashion; while only those with the most risky attributes can be routed for manual review. This allows expensive human resources and expertise to be used for only the most risky consumers. Compliance requirements can also mandate specific procedures, resulting in arduous manual review processes. Many requirements (Patriot Act, Red Flag, eSignature) mandate verification of identity through match results. Automated decisioning based on these results (or analytic score) can automate this process – in turn, reducing operational expense. While the above may seem to be an oversimplification or simple approach, I encourage you to consider how well you are addressing financial risk management. How are you managing automation, operational costs, and compliance – while addressing fraud?
By: Kari Michel Bankruptcies continue to rise and are expected to exceed 1.4 million by the end of this year, according to American Bankruptcy Institute Executive Director, Samuel J. Gerdano. Although, the overall bankruptcy rates for a lender’s portfolio is small (about 1 percent), bankruptcies result in high dollar losses for lenders. Bankruptcy losses as a percentage of total dollar losses are estimated to range from 45 percent for bankcard portfolios to 82 percent for credit unions. Additionally, collection activity is restricted because of legislation around bankruptcy. As a result, many lenders are using a bankruptcy score in conjunction with their new applicant risk score to make better acquisition decisions. This concept is a dual score strategy. It is key in management of risk, to minimize fraud, and in managing the cost of credit. Traditional risk scores are designed to predict risk (typically predicting 90 days past due or greater). Although bankruptcies are included within this category, the actual count is relatively small. For this reason the ability to distinguish characteristics typical of a “bankruptcy” are more difficult. In addition, often times a consumer who filed bankruptcy was in “good standings” and not necessarily reflective of a typical risky consumer. By separating out bankrupt consumers, you can more accurately identify characteristics specific to bankruptcy. As mentioned previously, this is important because they account for a significant portion of the losses. Bankruptcy scores provide added value when used with a risk score. A matrix approach is used to evaluate both scores to determine effective cutoff strategies. Evaluating applicants with both a risk score and a bankruptcy score can identify more potentially profitable applicants and more high- risk accounts.