Low-Tech Fraud Targets Banks, CUs

Which types of fraud are hitting banks and credit unions where it hurts?

See Also: When Every Identity is at Risk, Where Do You Begin?

According to initial results of our ongoing 2012 Faces of Fraud survey, the most prevalent forms of fraud include check and payment card fraud, as well as corporate account takeover.

Now, what types of fraud are banking institutions best prepared to prevent and detect? Different question entirely - and so are the preliminary answers.

I don't want to give away too much of what we're gleaning from the early survey results, but I do want to encourage you to take the survey, if you haven't already, and make sure your insights are included in our final results when the survey closes.

A follow-up to ISMG's 2011 Faces of Fraud Survey, this latest study looks not only at the latest fraud trends and how institutions are fighting back, but also at their progress in putting together layered security controls in conformance with the FFIEC Authentication Guidance. Sample questions include:

• What are your organization's biggest challenges to fraud prevention?
• Which elements of the FFIEC Authentication Guidance has your organization completed?
• How will your fraud resources (budget and/or personnel) change in the coming year?

Our goal? To glean the most inclusive view of continuing and emerging fraud schemes, as well as a bit about the investments institutions are making to prevent losses linked to those schemes.

A sneak-peak of the 2012 survey's findings will be presented March 2 at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

Presented by Tom Field, editorial director of Information Security Media Group, and U.S. Secret Service Agent Erik Rasmussen, The Faces of Fraud: An Inside Look at the Fraudsters and Their Schemes discussion will highlight the fraud trends we pick out, as well as technologies leading institutions are investing in to thwart fraud losses.

Last year's survey offered some stunning results. Among them was the answer to the question, "When is a fraud incident involving your organization usually detected?" Seventy-six percent of respondents said "When a customer notifies us."

How do respondents answer that same question in 2012? Well, you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Again, if you haven't already, I encourage you to take a few moments to complete our survey

The 2012 Faces of Fraud survey runs for a few more weeks. I'm anxious to see if the final results support the trends I see emerging now.