Fraud Threats during the Pandemic situation

I wrote last week about fraud, and the Dark Money Files, in particular. This week, I caught up with the final presentation on Fraud.

Business has adapted to Covid-19. Logically, fraudsters have too. Compliance teams have been completing risk assessments, and criminal teams are conducting opportunity assessments.

There’s a lot of stress out there – and it’s down to compliance teams to dig their heels in and ensure that caution is not thrown to the wind.

An extreme example of pressurised decision-making was highlighted. A French Pharmaceutical was in the race to source masks, sanitiser sprays and the like. A supplier was found, an order made, and 6.5 million Euros sent to a fraudster.

Whoops.

In the rush to get the stock, the company was dealing with a website impersonating a genuine manufacturer. The investigation is ongoing, but it’s a fair assumption that some corners were cut in due diligence. The silver lining is that a Suspicious Activity Report submitted by the bank handling the receipt of funds, triggered the investigation, and has already resulted in the arrest of the money launderer.

Another example was consumer-focused. Early in lockdown, the UK government sent out SMS messages, urging people to stay at home. Almost immediately, fraudsters began spoofing the origin telephone number, and sending follow-up messages. Each contained a link purporting to go to a government site, but which actually downloaded malware to the device.

Scary stuff.

The presenter, Andrew Clarke, who is a Course Director at the International Compliance Association (ICA), went on to talk about resources for criminals.

Perhaps the headliner here is “Replace Your Doc”. Go have a look.

Need a fake HSBC bank statement? No problem. Utility bill? Step this way…

This website is legal and easy to access.

Any of these type of documents sitting in your Customer Due Diligence files?

Contact Lime for a free, confidential discussion around fraud prevention.