Finding the Worst Fraudsters | Santander | Smartnumbers Consortium 2024

Finding the worst fraudsters.

To find out what’s really going on in the fight against fraud it’s important to speak to those doing it on a daily basis.

Lukasz Wodniok is a Fraud Investigator for Santander who knows what the landscape is like and was at Smartnumbers Consortium 2024 to see how he could be better equipped to deal with the problem. We spoke to him to hear his thoughts on the conference and the experience he has with fighting fraud, including the hunt for those elusive repeat offenders.

Finding the real fraud crooks

Having worked with the Smartnumbers tool for over 18 months, Wodniok was attending the event with the goal of strengthening collaboration with other consortium members, particularly in sharing and analyzing intelligence on fraudsters.

Wodniok expressed optimism that the event would lead to clearer paths for collaboration, enabling more efficient and effective efforts to tackle fraud. It’s something we’ve identified before as a key step in mitigating this threat.

A really interesting focus of his is on identifying and targeting the most notorious fraudsters, especially those who exploit telephony channels to perpetrate large-scale fraud. These criminals are particularly challenging because they frequently change their phone numbers, often using multiple numbers in a single day. This tactic allows them to make over 120 fraudulent calls per day, resulting in significant financial losses. It’s a scourge of the financial and banking industry, with 76% of banks facing sophisticated fraud threats today.

Wodniok emphasized the importance of rapid, clear, and direct communication among consortium members to effectively combat these sophisticated fraud tactics. This is where the Smartnumbers tool can come in and he believes that by leveraging the communication capabilities within the software, companies can share critical information in real-time, enabling faster responses to emerging threats.

Wodniok’s insights align with broader concerns within the industry, as highlighted by Gareth Evans of Davies Group in a previous interview. Both experts underscore the importance of collaboration and the human element in fraud prevention. However, Wodniok’s focus on the dynamic nature of telephony fraud adds a crucial layer to the conversation, highlighting the need for continuous adaptation and swift communication in the face of increasingly agile fraudsters. This interview reinforces the ongoing challenge of protecting sensitive information and resources in an ever-evolving landscape of fraud.

If you want to learn more, be sure to check out the rest of the interviews from the event, right here.