COMMENT: Tapping into Data is Key to Defeating UK Fraud

Sundeep Tengur, Banking Fraud Solutions & Financial Crimes Specialist:

“Fraud is not just a problem for individuals and companies – today’s figures show that it continues to grow as a societal issue that affects large numbers of customers and organisations, law enforcement and even the government.

“As we continue to migrate to digital channels and platforms for transactions, a trend that will be catalysed by the forthcoming PSD2 regulation, we must do more to ensure these channels are insulated from fraud.

“Fraudsters are constantly adapting to catch consumers out, and the tools and tactics they use are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Consumers know it – less than a quarter of UK consumers would consider sharing personal details with brands today according to our research.

“To overcome fraud and reinstate confidence, we must derive actionable intelligence from the information available. Spotting the tell-tale signs of improper payments and transactions means they can be stopped before any financial or personal assets are compromised.

“When considering the immense volume of relevant data available, the use of analytics is essential to creating insight from this information and crucial for staying ahead of increasingly savvy fraudsters. Only when we have greater collaboration and are proactively interrogating data using anomaly detection, machine learning and fraud networks will we have a truly holistic approach capable of effective fraud prevention.”