Fraud Week 2024 shines a light on AI-driven deception, Nov. 17 – 23

SAS joins forces with the ACFE to explore the two-edged sword that is GenAI and showcases organizations using advanced analytics to get the upper hand

Among the 13,500 people surveyed for SAS’ 2023 Faces of Fraud consumer fraud study, 7 in 10 reported falling victim to fraud at least once. Nearly 40% of the 16-country survey’s respondents reported two or more fraud experiences. To counter rampant AI-fueled scams, data and AI leader SAS again allies with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and hundreds of organizations worldwide to promote anti-fraud readiness and education throughout International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 17 – 23, 2024.

“AI technology, and generative AI in particular, has proven incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands,” said ACFE President John Gill. “According to our most recent anti-fraud technology study with SAS, 83% of anti-fraud professionals anticipate adding GenAI tools to their defenses over the next two years. They’re forced to keep up in what’s become an escalating tech arms race with criminal enterprises – but it’s an uneven playing field because, unlike their adversaries, fraud fighters must use these technologies ethically and comply with regulations.”

AI vs. AI: using advanced tech to outmaneuver fraudsters

As generative AI continues to reshape the fraud and financial crime landscape, how can anti-fraud pros best position their organizations to foil spiraling criminal exploits? Join SAS and the ACFE for a Fraud Week webinar – open for the first time to ACFE members and non-members alike – where experts will discuss the evolution of GenAI and its growing role in fraud prevention and detection.

Fighting Financial Crime in the Generative AI Age
Nov. 21, 2024, at 10 a.m. CST (and available later on demand)

The webinar will explore current GenAI trends, future implications of the technology and how organizations can keep pace with accelerating innovation. Attendees will get guidance on how to:

• Future-proof against GenAI threats in fraud.
• Utilize advancements and innovative solutions to reshape their anti-fraud programs.
• Establish trust and responsibility when implementing GenAI technologies.

“Banks, government agencies, insurers, merchants and other businesses continue to modernize with apps and digital offerings to match public demand – and in parallel, criminals are finding and exploiting weaknesses using increasingly sophisticated tools, particularly generative AI,” said Stu Bradley, Senior Vice President of Risk, Fraud and Compliance Solutions at SAS. “But as our customers are proving with their many fraud-fighting successes, even in this climate, establishing robust data ecosystems of digital data points and effective use of composite AI – AI aligned to a specific use case – can help organizations agilely adapt to evolving threats.”

Predicting real-time payment fraud with real-time analytics

Financial institutions have milliseconds to approve or deny an incoming transaction – a staggering task considering that total global credit card transactions alone averaged nearly two billion daily in 2023, the equivalent of almost 23,000 transactions per second. To quickly and accurately identify suspicious activity, digital payments service provider Nets (part of Milan-based Nexi Group) uses anti-fraud technology from SAS.

Nets provides digital payment services used by over 740,000 merchant outlets and hundreds of banks. Critically, SAS’ AI capabilities enable the European paytech to continually improve its predictive fraud modeling to ensure that the millions of consumers it serves enjoy seamless – and safe – instant payments.

“With SAS Fraud Management, we can process massive amounts of data to identify unusual patterns and sift the fraudulent transactions from the authentic ones – all in real time,” said Jukka-Pekka Kokkonen, Head of Fraud and Dispute at Nexi Group.

“Because of the nature of this battle, it’s critical to constantly monitor fraud detection performance,” added Kokkonen. “The SAS solution … allows us to adapt as needed to battle changing threats in different regions of the world.”

Fighting claims fraud to deliver quality service and reasonable premiums

Since issuing its first policy in 1994, Quálitas MX has grown into the leading auto insurer in Mexico, serving nearly one-third of the market. It boasts more than 20,000 agents and provides coverage for more than five million vehicles. Remaining at the forefront of innovation and technology is an operational cornerstone outlined in Quálitas’ vision statement – and it is reflected in the company’s cloud-based approach to fighting fraud.

For more than a decade, Quálitas has relied on SAS Fraud Framework to detect and prevent claims fraud. The insurer is building AI models to better detect suspicious activity. Early and accurate fraud detection reduces losses, which helps keep premiums down while also expediting the payment of legitimate claims. Both are key factors in delivering quality service and nurturing customer loyalty.

“We have a lot of data in the company, a lot of transactions, and the challenge for us is to use that data to answer questions and make better decisions,” said Rene Abdala, Director of Strategic Planning at Quálitas. “SAS delivers a single view of our customers that helps us identify fraud and other risks. We also use SAS for optimizing pricing and to monitor KPIs across the company.”

Detecting fraud within seconds with real-time data monitoring 

Techcombank is a Vietnamese joint-stock bank, serving nearly 14 million retail and corporate customers through its digital banking platform, mobile app and more than 300 branches nationwide. In Vietnam, more than 50% of digital fraud attacks target banks and financial firms, so identifying and preventing fraud is paramount.

Techcombank has implemented a proactive data monitoring system using an enterprise fraud solution from SAS, allowing employees to analyze customer behavior in real time. The results: enhanced fraud detection and prevention capabilities across multiple products and channels on a single platform. The bank slashed the time needed for fraud detection to mere seconds while also minimizing false positives.

“While many banks are reactive and may implement solutions only after fraud issues catch up with them, we made the decision to move early on this front,” said Joseph Vu, Director of Technology and Digital Risk Management at Techcombank. 

“With SAS, we consolidated our fraud detection and investigation while also assigning data authorization to the right specialists. We now act faster, more effectively and more precisely in our information sharing, reporting, business rule writing, triggering alerts and investigation.”

Uncovering noncompliance, tax avoidance and tax evasion

The Mediterranean island nation of Malta is in the midst of a three-year strategic plan to modernize the technology used to collect taxes and customs. The agency responsible – the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) – uses SAS as part of those efforts to detect compliance issues and ensure that every citizen and corporation pays their fair share.

Noncompliance, tax avoidance and tax evasion cost governments about 10% to 20% of anticipated annual revenue – and in countries where enforcement is lax, those rates can be as high as 80%. Fixing the problem could yield millions in additional revenue. Using SAS solutions on SAS^® Viya^®, the MTCA can analyze real-time data, allowing for more effective monitoring and more timely interventions.

“Previously, we had an entirely manual process,” said Joseph Caruana, Commissioner for Tax and Customs at MTCA. “Now thanks to SAS advanced analytics and AI capabilities, audits are much faster and more effective, because they are based on cross-referenced data. … We are more effective because our decisions are data-driven and much timelier.”

Join the conversation online

For more customer stories, thought leadership and practical anti-fraud tips throughout the observance, follow #FraudWeek on Twitter/X and LinkedIn. You’ll find conversations and real-world guidance from SAS experts on payments fraud, identity and digital fraud, money laundering and financial crimes, claims fraud, unemployment fraud, health care fraud and cost containment, procurement fraud, and other fraud topics.

No one is immune to fraud. Help spread anti-fraud awareness and resilience by joining the #FraudWeek conversation on LinkedIn.

How is rampant fraud reshaping consumers' expectations – and what does it mean for businesses? Explore key findings from SAS' Faces of Fraud study.