Auto Lending Fraud Infographic

I created this handy little Auto Loan Fraud Infographic to explain how auto lending fraud works and why criminals are so interested in it. Why do fraudsters love committing fraud?  Because not only can they get the car for free, they can ship it to Asia and sell it 3 or 4 times the value […]

How Facebook Is Spawning a New Wave of CatFish ID Fraud

Are you afraid of identity theft?  I am.  And I am not alone.  About 1 in 5 American’s have already been a victim and it ranks as one of the Top 10 fears in nationwide polls. Thanks to Facebook, there is a new type of identity theft emerging that is far more damaging to you far […]

Imposter Fraud Is Blowing Up But I Found A Silver Bullet

The latest reports are in for 2016 and Imposter Fraud is blowing up.  Last year, Imposter Fraud was ranked as the most common type of fraud reported by consumers, outstripping Identity Theft of the title that it held for many years. There were 407,000 consumer complaints for imposter fraud in 2016, making it the largest type […]

The IRS Thinks Tax Return Fraud is Tiny. They’re Wrong.

The IRS thinks their issue with fraudulent tax returns is so small that they do not need to do anything differently than they do today to protect consumers. At least that is how they responded to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) yesterday in response THIS REPORT that urged them to take better care to prevent […]

Car Dealers Beware of Auto Loan Fraud

Auto Loan Fraud is a big problem here in the US and growing.  Annual estimates are that approximately $6 Billion in car sales are made and financed with a loan containing some fraud on the application. That is a big number.  And lenders are looking for any ways that they can reduce that fraud. Many […]

Canada is Close to Wiping Out Skimming Fraud

While American’s are getting hit with more card fraud than ever, it appears that our friendly neighbors in Canada figured out what to do about it a long time ago.  It appears that when Canadians decided to put Chip’s on their cards way back in 2008, they had the right idea because it has worked […]

5 Reasons Machine Learning Won’t Eliminate Fraud Analyst

Computing power is doubling every two years.  As computers become increasingly powerful, we are finally able to capitalize on the enormous power of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Self-driving cars,  stores without cashiers where you simply walk out with your merchandise and have your card charged automatically, the ability to ask SIRI anything and get an immediate and […]

11 Companies That Teach Machines To Detect Fraud

Machine Learning for fraud is big business.   Particularly here in San Diego where companies like HNC Software pioneered the use of it over 20 years ago to solve the problem of credit card fraud when there were few fraud detection solutions available.  Since HNC, many other companies have sprouted up using machine learning to […]

3 Recent Reports That Have Fraud Experts Puzzled

There are 3 recent fraud reports that have left fraud experts scratching their heads and wondering if everything they know about fraud is wrong. Fraud is a cat and mouse game and experts that have been in the industry long enough know that fraudsters move quickly to the weakest link in the chain.  They like […]

PinDrop Reports Big Increase in Phone Fraud

Social engineering is on the rise because fraudsters have found the weakest link in the security chain – the call center operator. According to the 2016 Call Center Fraud Report, fraudulent calls spiked 45%  in the last 3 years and now 1 in every 2000 calls into call centers is by a fraudster trying to […]

NACHA Reports Zero Increase in Fraud with Same Day ACH

Nacha is reporting that there has been zero increase in fraud after the much-feared launch of Same Day ACH in September of last year. The report comes after Nacha survey 23 financial institutions about their experience with Same Day ACH.  100% of those banks reported no increase in fraud.   And it’s not for lack of […]

Online Merchants Will Not Be Liable For Fraud In 3 Years

Here is a bold statement. “Within three years merchants will no longer be liable for credit card fraud online”, said Skye Spear, vice president of partnerships at Signifyd That quote in Forbes caught my attention.  Then I took a closer look at what Skye Spear and his company are doing to make that possible.  Yes, […]

London Fraud – How Fraudsters Steal in London

London has always been a hot spot for pickpockets and clever con artist.  Watch this awesome Vice Video that takes you behind the scenes for a new generation of clever con artist that are making millions.

Auto Finance – Auto Loan Fraud Set to Double in 2017

An article by William Hoffman in Auto Finance News reports Auto Lending Fraud is set to double.  Here is the article in its entirety. Consumer fraud in auto lending could double in 2017, compared with the year prior, in large part due to prevailing trends in the finance industry, said Tim Grace, chief executive of […]

Fraud Continues Unprecedented Climb Higher

Are we at the beginning or end of a dramatic spike in fraud across all industries?  It might be open for debate but clearly, all signs are pointing to the fact that we may be in the very early stages of a long and treacherous climb upward. I reviewed the Top 10 Reported Fraud Losses last month […]

CEO Fraud 2.0 – It’s Like Fraud on Steroids

Imagine getting an email from the CEO of your company requesting that you email out a zip file containing last year’s W2 forms to a new accounting firm that is “helping your company with taxes”. Accounting and payroll departments all over the US are getting emails like this one each and every day.  And they’re […]

Auto Lending Fraud Estimated at $6 Billion for 2017

Auto Lending Fraud is a fraud dominated by systematic dealer fraud, fraud rings and early payment default. With 2016 auto lending originations soaring to historically high levels, the downstream impacts are now revealing themselves in higher fraud losses. PointPredictive estimates the annual value of auto loan originations that contain some element of misrepresentation may be […]

Counterfeit Card Fraud Drops 52% in 2016

Visa announced this week that counterfeit fraud is down 52% for 2016 at merchants that have deployed their Chip Card terminals.    The rapid adoption of Chip-enabled terminals at US merchants continued at an astonishing clip with over 1 million new merchants installing the terminals. That raises the figure to over 1.8 million merchants accepting […]

Fraud Alert : You Should Always Hang Up On This Call

If you get a call from a phone number that you do not recognize and the person asks, “Can you Hear Me?”, the best thing you can possibly do is hang up the phone immediately. Law Enforcement is warning consumers across the US of a new scam that is gaining momentum. It is happening in […]

This CEO Tries to Convince Auto Lenders Fraud is Real

I love it when senior executives take a stand against fraud and try to do something about it. So when I read this article in Auto Finance Excellence – Roadblocks to Creating a Dealer Fraud Detection Network, I was pretty impressed with CEO Troy Cavallaro and what he has been trying to do. He has been […]