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What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! I want to talk about something that might be a little uncomfortable. It isn’t about a new scheme or a criminal using AI to break into a bank. It’s about our own fraud controls, and the gap between having them and knowing they work. Two stories from the past week made me want to have this conversation. The first is a $350 million penalty against American Express National Bank tied to deficiencies in its BSA and AML program. The second is a guilty plea from a former TD Bank employee who admitted to accepting bribes and helping launder more than $4.8 million. The facts are very different, and neither institution looks like a community bank or credit union with a fraud team of two. Even so, the same questions show up at every size. Does your risk assessment reflect the business you run today? Who reviews the people with the power to override a control? And when someone finds a weakness, who makes sure it gets fixed? I’m also bringing in what we’ve learned from our financial institution fraud benchmarking research, because it points to a question I keep returning to. What does a mature fraud program actually look like? Let’s get into it. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why the American Express enforcement action is a lesson in fraud risk assessment, and what happens when an assessment focuses on a narrow part of a much larger businessWhy the roughly $13 billion in suspected activity cited by the OCC reflects deficiencies in a BSA and AML program, and why it shouldn’t be repeated as a fraud lossHow a former TD Bank employee allegedly used legitimate access to unblock restricted cards, and why employee override monitoring deserves more attention than it getsWhat 86 accounts at one commercial address teach us about transaction monitoring and what should happen after an alert firesPractical ways smaller teams can use compensating controls when they can’t fully separate dutiesWhy documenting a known control weakness is not the same as managing it, and how remediation tracking can quietly stallA simple framework that separates control existence vs execution vs effectivenessMetrics that show real exposure to leadership, beyond alert counts and cases closedFive questions to bring to your fraud team on Monday You should listen to this episode if you:Lead or support a fraud program at a community bank or credit union and have to cover a lot of ground with a small teamWant to know whether your fraud risk assessment is driving decisions or only documenting themAre responsible for managing insider risk or employee access and want practical ways to review overridesNeed help explaining known control weaknesses to leadership in a way that leads to actionAre comparing your program against peers and want to know what a mature fraud program looks like

What's up fraud fighters and welcome back to Fraud Forward! I just got home from Las Vegas at four in the morning on Friday after starting the week in Washington DC. I am home for exactly two more sleeps before I turn around and leave again. Today there is no guest. It is just me, my microphone, and a notebook full of things to talk about. I started the week at HHS then I flew from DC to Vegas for ACAMS The Assembly. Two completely different rooms. Yet I kept writing down versions of the same thing. Culture. Data. Accountability. Collaboration. Speed. Technology. And then one sentence from Washington ended up framing the entire week for me. Fraud follows money. That is how this episode starts and that is how it ends. Where the money goes, fraud follows. When the money changes, fraud changes. When the way we move money gets faster, fraud gets faster. When we create a new product, somebody figures out how to exploit it. When we close one vulnerability, they find another. That is fraud driven flows in practice. And if you pay attention to where the money is going next, you will have a much better picture of where the fraud is going. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why fraud driven flows connects real-time payments fraud, stablecoin fraud risks, and check fraud in the digital age into one through lineGovernment fraud program banking parallels that reframe how we think about audit accountability and corrective actionWhy fraud prevention stewardship and the line a dollar saved is worth more than a dollar recovered should change how we talk to leadershipHow fraud program culture functions as a control and why fraud incentive misalignment quietly defeats everything else we buildWhat ACAMS Assembly 2026 insights on real-time payments fraud and stablecoin financial crime risks mean for fraud risk beyond organizational boundaryWhy fraud technology before problem definition is still one of the most expensive mistakes in fraud programs and what AI fraud results measurement should actually look likeHow fraud program single point of failure is a fraud risk hiding inside a staffing conversationWhy fraud collaboration operationalized looks nothing like fraud collaboration discussed You should listen to this episode if you:Lead a fraud program and have ever felt like you are having the same conversation in completely different roomsAre trying to figure out how to measure fraud prevention value and tell a better story to leadershipCare about fraud program culture and want to hear why it functions as a control, not a soft conceptHave ever bought technology before understanding the problem you were trying to solveAre dealing with fraud knowledge retention risk because one person on your team knows everything and you are not sure what happens when they leave

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Today I’m sitting in the guest chair. If you caught the episode of The Saturday Fraud Strategist that dropped alongside this one, you already know Chen Zamir and I decided to swap roles. He came on Fraud Forward to interview me, and I went on his show to interview him. We are heading to Money 20/20 in Vegas together and thought this would be a fun way to kick it off. I spend a lot of time asking questions. Sitting on the other side of the mic is a different experience, and Chen does not ask easy questions. This conversation went places I did not fully expect. We ended in a discussion about how to build a fraud program that works, and more importantly, what gets in the way. If you have ever walked into an organization that has been fighting fraud for a year, spent money on vendors and headcount, and still were at the same place you started, this episode is for you. The answer is a lot deeper than adding another tool. What you will hear in this episode:How to build a fraud program assessment when you walk into an organization that has been struggling and nobody can tell you whyWhy fraud and risk management starts with people, process, technology, and data in that order, and why most organizations start with technology and create more problemsThe fraud capacity planning model I built as a practitioner to prove headcount needs to executives, including the three-minute-per-alert calculation and how to build a 40-hour week model that accounts for everything your team actually doesWhy fraud team structure matters before you can optimize anything, and how to answer the centralized versus decentralized question before you start hiring or buyingThe fraud risk assessment framework I consider the most important tool in a fraud leader's program, including the difference between inherent risk vs residual risk fraud and why a lack of losses does not mean a lack of riskWhy fraud technology layering done wrong looks like stacking medications that interact badly with each other, and what fraud technology gap analysis actually looks like before a vendor demoHow authorized push payment fraud breaks the fraud stack that was built around a single question, is this actually our customer, and why scam detection behavioral signals require a completely different approachThe scam intervention banking framework I used as a practitioner, including targeted friction, cooling off periods, and the phrase I call my mic drop momentHow I approach fraud executive communication and fraud program advocacy when leadership sees losses on a dashboard and misses the fifteen million the team preventedThe fraud dashboard reporting model I want to see: attempted fraud, prevented fraud, actual loss, normalized against transaction volume or deposits, not just gross fraud lossesWhy human in the loop fraud AI is not scalable and what human on the loop means for fraud team skill development right nowWhere fraud program maturity actually stands based on the benchmarking work I have been doing, and why fraud teams are doing better than we give ourselves credit for You should listen to this episode if you:Are building or rebuilding a fraud program and want to hear how I actually approach it from the ground up, not a framework from a textbook but the real process I used as a practitionerHave ever had to justify headcount, technology, or budget to a leadership team that does not fully understand what fraud prevention actually involves and want a model that makes the case with dataWork at a bank or credit union and are feeling the pressure of the shift from unauthorized fraud to authorized push payment fraud and scams and are not sure how to adapt your fraud stackWant the fraud capacity planning model I built manually as a practitioner, the three-minute-per-alert calculation and the 40-hour week breakdown that finally got leadership to listenAre trying to figure out where AI fits in your fraud program without losing the investigators you have spent years developingLead a fraud team and want to know where fraud program maturity actually stands based on the benchmarking work I have been doing across financial institutionsHave ever walked into a room of blank stares when you asked your team what is actually driving fraud losses and needed a better starting point for that conversation

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! I am bringing you more from here at IAFCI in Nashville. I've caught up with fraud fighters, bank executives, and law enforcement leaders for a rapid-fire soundcheck on where fraud is headed. I've been asking everyone I sit down with the same question. If you had one word to describe fraud in 2026, what would it be? The answers ranged from trending and explosive, to complex, and evolving. Sometimes fraud couldn't be contained by only one word. Honestly, they all fit. There were so many great conversations this week. They didn't fit into one episode. They barely fit into two. So this episode is a rapid series of conversations covering everything from bust out fraud to elder fraud prevention, dealership schemes, and where IAFCI itself is headed under new leadership. Every one of these conversations left me with something I want to bring straight back to you. These conversations are not just about what we are facing. But also how we can overcome the rising challenges in our community, the tools, the collaboration, and the partnerships between law enforcement and banking that are only getting stronger. Let's get into it. What you'll hear in this episode:Why bust out fraud is being called a real hot topic right now. How these rings are migrating away from California and Florida as enforcement catches up.How auto lending fraud, first party fraud, and income misrepresentation are showing up together. Why leaning on consortium data and application data fraud signals is more important than relying on credit reports alone.How dealerships that barely exist are financing cars that were never actually delivered.Why business email compromise is still a top concern on the commercial banking side, and the stop call and confirm habit that stops it cold.Building a fraud prevention platform started with understanding the problem firsthand by moving into senior living communities. A fresh way to think about scam education as a behavior change problem, not just an awareness problem.Why check fraud trends remain a serious concern for community bank fraud programs, even as fraudsters increasingly bring AI targeted fraud attacks to smaller institutions.How law enforcement bank collaboration through IAFCI industry working groups is turning strangers into the people you call when a case needs to move fast.What's ahead for IAFCI itself, including new fraud policy and regulation partnerships and a membership goal of 10,000 by the end of the current term. You should listen to this episode if you:Work in auto lending, dealership finance, or first party fraud detection and want real, current examples of bust out fraud.Are on the commercial banking side and want a reminder of how effective stop call and confirm still is against business email compromise.Care about elder fraud prevention and want to hear how one approach was built from direct, in-person research.Lead fraud or risk at a community bank and want perspective on check fraud trends and AI targeted fraud attacks hitting smaller institutions.Believe law enforcement bank collaboration is underrated and want real examples of what that actually looks like in practice.Want a fast-moving, one-word-answer kind of episode that still leaves you with real, usable takeaways.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode is another one that is unplugged, on the road, and recorded live at IAFCI International in Nashville. I am spending more time talking with the people who fight fraud from every angle. This time we talked about consumer fraud, identity theft, romance scams, account takeover on someone’s personal banking app, and the stuff that leads to the nightly news. But businesses get defrauded too, and when they do, it doesn’t just hit a balance sheet. It hits jobs, it hits communities, yet it barely hits the headlines. These conversations will hit on a lot, and we will cover one topic that maybe doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. B2B fraud. From business identity verification, synthetic business entities, the regulatory gaps opening up around beneficial ownership, and where AI is genuinely helping instead of just adding to the noise. Sit down, and let’s get into it with the fraud fighters sounding off on B2B fraud, synthetic entities, and everything AI is changing about the fight ahead. What you'll hear in this episode:Why B2B fraud gets a fraction of the attention consumer fraud does, even though the downstream impact on employees and communities can be just as severe.How synthetic business entities and beneficial ownership fraud are becoming easier to pull off, and why recent FinCEN ownership rule changes are widening that gap.A real example of business email compromise reaching its highest recorded volume in FinCEN's history, and how compromised business inbox markets let criminals study a company's own email patterns before striking.What abandoned identity fraud actually means, criminals exploiting the identities of babies, deceased individuals, and people who simply don't monitor their own credit.Why traditional banking fraud vulnerabilities, like slow-moving cross-border wire fraud, are getting overlooked while everyone's attention shifts to AI and crypto.A practical framework for proactive fraud detection, including fraud detection beyond login and why the real fight starts before someone ever reaches your app.How layered fraud detection stacks and agentic AI fraud tools are being used to catch AI-scaled attacks, including one financial institution that saw 250,000 fraudulent account signups in a matter of days.Why IAFCI conference collaboration, a shared conversation, a follow-up call, a number saved after one good conversation, is still one of the most effective fraud-fighting tools out there. You should listen to this episode if you:Work in business banking, commercial lending, or B2B fraud detection and want to hear this category taken seriously.Are responsible for business identity verification and want to understand how beneficial ownership fraud is shifting under new FinCEN rules.Have been affected by business email compromise or want to understand how compromised business inbox markets actually operate.Are building or evaluating layered fraud detection stacks and want real examples of agentic AI fraud tools in production.Believe fraud detection beyond login matters as much as anything happening inside your app.Want a genuine feel for why IAFCI conference collaboration keeps coming up as fraud fighters' biggest advantage.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode is recorded live and unplugged on the conference floor at IAFCI International in Nashville. I couldn’t fit everything I loved into one tidy gathering. Instead I’m bringing you the open floor conversations that, for me, are helping to unravel fraud and are weaving together fraud fighters. The headliner here is Michael Perez, the first ever fraudster turned fraud fighter to appear on Fraud Forward. What happened in his story is what you’ll want to hear the most. Federal agents recognized he was more valuable teaching fraud prevention than sitting on the sidelines. Beyond Michael’s story is a walk around the conference floor with a retired FBI cyber crime agent turned author, a Postal Inspector on leveraging relationships, an NYPD detective on dismantling large scale fraud schemes tied to money laundering, and two South Carolina Department of Corrections investigators on the sophisticated financial crime investigations happening behind bars. What you’ll hear in this episode:Michael Perez's full story on how his card skimming operation worked, what led to his arrest, and how he's since built tools that help detect the exact fraud he used to commit.A retired FBI cyber crime agent's take on why nearly 90% of the financial fraud he investigated could have been prevented, and the cybersecurity training mindset he now teaches.How a Postal Inspector's small agency structure makes relationship-building and fraud conference collaboration a survival skill, not a nice-to-have.An NYPD detective's approach to dismantling large scale fraud schemes and money laundering investigation targets, plus a real elder fraud wellness check made possible entirely through IAFCI chapter connections.What South Carolina prison investigators are finding through prison financial crime investigations on contraband cell phones, including AI enabled fraud like deepfake documents and videos, plus peer-to-peer payment fraud tied to inmate financial fraud.Why IAFCI's law enforcement and bank collaboration model, letting each side sit in on the other's sessions, is something conference attendees keep pointing to as a genuine differentiator.The recurring themes across nearly every conversation of transnational fraud schemes operating at scale, and why the fraud fighter community, not any single tool or team, is still fraud fighters' biggest advantage. You should listen to this episode if you:Are a fraud, risk, or financial crimes professional who wants a real, one-the ground feel for what IAFCI conversations actually sound like.Are someone curious what a fraudster turned fraud fighter can teach the industry that a traditional investigator can’t.Are on a fraud team or a law enforcement investigator and looking for practical examples of bank enforcement and bank collaboration paying off.Are working adjacent to card skimming, prison financial crime investigations, or elder fraud and want real case examples.Are a fraud fighter, have felt isolated in your role, and want a reminder that the fraud fighting community changes what’s possible.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This one is recorded live at SardineCon as a fireside chat. You’re getting the real, unscripted version of a conversation I had with Andrew Austin from Sardine and Arjun Ramakrishnan from GoDaddy. This one involves no rehearsed talking points. Just a conversation in front of a room full of people who live this work every day. Arjun brought the merchant and payments side. Andrew brought the fraud technology side. We sat down to talk about AI driven fraud, and how cheap and fast this has all become. AI is not introducing a new species of fraud. It’s the same things we have always fought. Everything from bust-out schemes, card testing, synthetic identities, to fake businesses. What’s changed is the speed, the scale, and the cost. That’s what we spend the next forty-five minutes unpacking. What you’ll hear:How AI-generated fraudulent websites and website cloning fraud have erased one of the oldest fraud indicators fraud teams relied on. We can no longer just rely on whether a business’s website looks legitimate.How bust-out fraud has scaled from two or three manually cultivated accounts to AI agents fraud rings running 30 or 40 synthetic accounts simultaneously.Why card testing attacks no longer follow predictable dollar amounts or velocity patterns, and what that means for payment fraud velocity patterns detection.The real tension fraud teams face balancing KYB friction vs fraud, and why adding more friction can push legitimate customers to a competitor.Why consortium data fraud detection and network-level fraud analysis matter more than ever when a single fraud ring can span dozens of seemingly unrelated accounts.How cost asymmetry in fraud is reshaping the entire fight, where attackers iterate for cents while defenders spend real dollars to respond.Why traditional fraud loss forecasting models are becoming unreliable in a world of constantly evolving agentic fraud attacks.What fraud team innovation strategy actually needs to look like going forward, including real-time fraud detection, fraud rule engine automation, and a genuine embrace of AI fraud cost barrier realities. You should listen to this episode if you:Work in merchant onboarding fraud risk, payments, or trust and safety and want a grounded, practitioner-level view of AI driven fraud.Are responsible for detecting synthetic identity fraud, card not present fraud, or bust-out fraud at a bank, fintech, or payments platform.Have ever had to defend a KYB friction vs fraud tradeoff to your sales or product team and want language to make that case better.Are evaluating consortium data fraud detection or network-level fraud analysis tools and want real-world context for why they matter now.Lead a fraud team trying to figure out where to actually invest given the AI fraud cost barrier attackers no longer face.Want a live conversation with real talk from people actively fighting this every day.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This one’s a little different. I recorded this episode live on the floor at SardineCon 2026, and instead of one long sit down with a single guest, you're getting a debrief of the day. One conversation after another, right where they happened. I kicked things off by catching up with Simon Taylor after his opening keynote. From there I sat down with Tal Yeshanov, Head of Risk and Compliance at Zeni, who’s spent 17 years in payment risk and consulting. Everything from chargeback abuse to friendly fraud to credit risk. Then came the conversation that’s going to stick with you. Joseph Cox didn’t just talk about AI powered fraud in theory. And to close out the day, Karisse Hendrick and I got into a full recap of Sardine Con. If you couldn’t make it this year, consider this your SardineCon 2026 debrief. Straight from the people who were actually there. What you’ll hear:Simon Taylor on whether the industry actually understands AI or is just moving fast enough to look like it doesTal Yeshanov on 17 years in payment risk, and the practical takeaways she's already applying from SardineCon sessions on AI and AB testingJoseph Cox walking through how he built and deployed a fake ID against a real KYC process, and what it revealed about where fraud detection still falls shortWhy agentic commerce came up in almost every conversation on the show floor, and what it means for how fraud teams need to start thinkingKarisse Hendrick on her SardineCon roundtable, where the room debated who owns liability when an agent makes the purchaseA rundown of the sessions, fireside chats, and roundtables that shaped the day, plus a look at Sardine's own workflow product You should listen to this episode if you:Couldn’t make it to SardineCon 2026 and want the debrief straight from the floorAre trying to figure out where agentic commerce fits into your fraud strategyWant to hear what it actually looks like when someone tests fake ID detection and KYC testing against real defenses instead of just talking about itAre building out deepfake detection and want perspective from people who are living it day to dayWant to hear how a traditional bank is thinking about fraud alongside the fintech and crypto crowdLike your fraud content with a little conference energy instead of another studio recording

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This one started with a can of hairspray. Jen Lamont and I were getting ready for a networking event, and somehow a conversation about hair products turned into a conversation about the future of fraud prevention in banking. Because we ended up talking about her mom. A career teller in banking for decades. Someone who knew multiple generations of families, who turned down promotions to stay at the window because she loved the people, who took pride in the role in ways that I think a lot of institutions have quietly trained out of the job. And that got me asking a question I haven't been able to shake since: have we made it harder for the people closest to our customers to actually see them? We still call tellers our first line of defense. But we've also loaded that line with sales goals, referral quotas, transaction time expectations, compliance responsibilities, and lobby metrics. Meanwhile, fraud has gotten more human than ever. Scammers aren't just stealing credentials anymore. They're manipulating customers into moving the money themselves. And the only person standing between a coached customer and a wire going out the door is often a teller who has been measured on everything except whether they noticed something felt wrong. Jen brings a perspective to this conversation that I think is rare and really important. She's a fraud professional who grew up watching her mom build a full career at the teller window. She's seen what that role looks like when it's valued, and she's spent years as a practitioner trying to figure out how to rebuild some of that in institutions where the teller role has shifted into something almost unrecognizable. This is not a conversation about blame. It's a conversation about what we've inherited, what we're still questioning, and what we could do differently. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why Jen's mom's career as a teller, and the pride she took in that role, is the lens for this entire conversationHow teller performance metrics in banking have shifted from relationship quality to sales and efficiency, and what that costs us in fraud preventionA real wire fraud scenario that shows exactly what happens when a teller has a bad feeling but no clear authority or path to act on itWhy the authorized versus unauthorized distinction misses the coercion behind authorized push payment scamsWhat tellers can see that transaction monitoring systems miss, including behavioral fraud signals, coached customer body language, and vague answers to routine questionsWhy Jen sent a $35,000 wire she knew was fraud early in her career, and what changed after thatWhat a direct escalation path to the fraud team actually needs to look like, and why ticketing systems are not enoughWhy prevented scam losses should count as strongly as product referrals on a teller scorecardWhat a senior teller career path and frontline fraud specialist role could actually look likeThe phrase you should keep in your pocket for any frontline employee dealing with a suspicious transaction You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud or risk and want to understand what the career teller in banking brings to your fraud prevention program that your systems cannot replicateLead a branch, manage frontline staff, or set teller performance metrics and want to know whether your scorecards are creating conflict between service speed and teller scam detectionAre trying to build a better escalation path between your frontline and your fraud teamWant practical, actionable recommendations you can bring back to your institution this weekHave ever seen a scam succeed because the teller had the right instinct and no room to act on itAre building a fraud ambassador program or a senior teller fraud specialist role and want a framework for thinking through itCare about the human cost of fraud and want to hear a conversation about it from people who have sat with those losses

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Community banks know they need digital transformation in banking to stay competitive. They also know one bad launch can overwhelm a fraud team, frustrate customers, and torch years of trust. So today we're going beyond the headline case study to unpack how one community bank actually pulled it off. I'm joined by Omar Hamden, Chief Experience Officer at Vault.Bank, and Jorge Garcia, CEO of Linker Finance, to talk about how a 120-year-old community bank in Broadhead, Wisconsin turned itself into a digital brand, without opening the door to the fraud everyone assumes comes with it. Omar didn’t want a system that approved everyone or treated every customer like a suspect. He wanted risk-based account opening that could actually tell the difference, and it worked. Fraud losses in digital banking at Vault have stayed close to zero since launch, with onboarding now taking about three minutes, funding included. Most banks assume digital growth means a bigger fraud team. Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with two people. That's it. No army of analysts, just the right core banking integration and automation in place from day one. Jorge breaks down why vendor selection for community bank leaders, not the technology, is usually the real blocker for community banks trying to launch digitally, and how Linker built a turnkey approach so Vault didn't have to stitch together a dozen point solutions on its own. The numbers back all of it up. Vault grew deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate, and customer retention rate sits close to 90%. If your institution is weighing a digital brand launch in community banking, this digital banking case study is the one to send to your board. What you'll hear in this episode:How Vault.Bank and Linker Finance came together to launch a digital-only brand for a community bank under $300 million in assets.Why risk-based account opening matters more than trying to hit zero fraud alerts.How identity verification and KYC digital onboarding got built to satisfy auditors without slowing down real customers.Why Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with a team of two people, and how core banking integration and automated decisioning make that possible.How vendor selection for community bank leaders became the real blocker in digital brand launches, more than the technology itself.The deposit growth strategies for banks that helped Vault grow deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate.Why customer retention rate matters just as much as acquisition, and how nearly 90% retention changed the growth conversation.What's next as Vault plans national digital banking expansion beyond Wisconsin. Who should listen:Community bank leaders considering a digital brand launch in community banking.Fraud and risk professionals evaluating fraud losses in digital banking and looking for real, verifiable numbers.Bank executives weighing vendor selection for community bank technology partnerships.Anyone curious how lean fraud team operations actually work without a large analyst team.Community banks exploring small business lending and neobank technology in community banks as growth levers.Boards and leadership teams trying to build the business case for bank compliance automation and best of breed banking technology.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode opens a little differently. And if you are not paying close attention, you will probably believe it was me. It sounds like me, it looks like me, but every bit of it is a deepfake created with artificial intelligence in about twenty minutes for less than five dollars. That is not a future threat. That is today. Andrew Austin is one of my favorite people to talk to because he does not do hype. He spends a lot of time exploring where emerging technology meets fraud risk. And this is one of the most practical conversations I have had on the show. We are not here to scare anyone. We are here to make sure fraud fighters understand exactly what they are up against and how organizations need to start thinking differently about deepfake fraud and AI voice cloning. We walk through the full landscape of deepfake technology together, from voice cloning to live face swapping to lip sync. We talk about what each one costs, how convincing each one is, and where criminals are already using deepfake scams today. Andrew breaks down why identity verification is the most vulnerable point for financial institutions right now, why real time detection of AI-generated content is still an unsolved problem, and why fraudsters do not need Hollywood quality deepfakes to be effective. They just need to be convincing enough. We do not stop at the threat. We spend the second half of the conversation talking about defenses, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, consortium data, friction design, and why employee awareness and organizational culture still matter as much as any technology investment. Andrew also shares what excites him about where AI is headed on the fraud fighting side, and what he thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraud. Fraud has always been built on manipulating trust. AI does not change that. It just gives criminals a far more convincing disguise. What you’ll hear in this episode:How Andrew created a convincing deepfake in twenty minutes for less than five dollars, and what that means for fraud teamsThe difference between voice cloning, live face swapping, and lip sync technology, and the distinct fraud risk each one createsWhy deepfake scams do not need to be perfect to work, and how criminals are already exploiting that realityWhere financial institutions are most vulnerable to AI-generated content right now, and why onboarding and IDV top the listWhy real time detection of AI-generated video content is still not a solved problemHow device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and consortium data work together to close the gaps IDV alone cannot coverWhy employee awareness and organizational culture are just as important as any technology investmentWhat Andrew thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraudWhere AI is creating real operational efficiency gains on the fraud fighting side, and why Andrew is genuinely excited about it You should listen to this episode if you:Lead fraud, risk, compliance, or financial crimes at a bank, credit union, fintech, or neobankAre responsible for identity verification, onboarding design, or authentication strategyWant a practical, non-sensational breakdown of what deepfake scams and AI voice cloning actually look like todayAre building or updating your fraud program and want to understand where AI fraud risk fits into your existing controlsAre new to fraud and want to understand how emerging technology is reshaping what fraud fighters need to know

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! I always say fraud is a team sport, and this episode is exactly why. I recorded these conversations live from the ACFE fraud conference in Boston, sitting down with five fraud fighters who each bring a completely different piece of the puzzle. Law enforcement. Banking. Government. Fintech. BSA. Investigations. Every single one of them came back to the same point: we cannot fight fraud alone, and the silos we work in are one of the biggest advantages we are handing to fraudsters. Marc Evans opened the conversation by making the case that fraud analyst training has to be rooted in real cases, not theory. Linda Miller followed with one of the most honest takes of the day: the organizations waiting for regulatory guidance before building their AI governance frameworks are already behind. Tracy Swaim added something I had never heard framed so cleanly, that document fraud is a context problem, not a technology problem. And Dustin Eaton brought it back to the data: clean, collective information is the edge, and fraudsters are counting on us not having it. Jen Lamont closed it out with a reminder that hit close to home. For every fraud fighter who cannot make it to a conference like this, the knowledge is still out there. Podcasts, white papers, LinkedIn, local and international fraud associations. This community is one of the most generous there is. And if there is one thing I took away from all five conversations, it is this: fraudsters share everything with each other. Until we do the same, we are always playing catch-up. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why the ACFE fraud conference brings together fraud fighters from banking, government, law enforcement, fintech, and investigations under one roofHow cross-sector fraud prevention helps organizations identify emerging threats fasterWhy breaking silos in fraud is one of the biggest opportunities facing our industry right nowWhat Marc Evans has learned training new fraud analysts using real investigations and holistic case dataWhy AI governance is outpacing organizational readiness, and what Linda Miller says financial institutions should do before regulations catch upHow Tracy Swaim reframes document fraud detection around interrogating context rather than authenticating the document itselfWhy clean and connected data is the foundation of effective AI-driven fraud prevention, according to Dustin EatonHow Jen Lamont approaches fraud analyst training, mentorship, and continuous learning for fraud teams at every levelCareer advice for new fraud fighters from five professionals who have built careers across every corner of this industry You should listen to this episode if you:Attend fraud conferences and want practical ideas you can bring back to your teamLead a fraud, investigations, risk, or financial crimes program and want to strengthen cross-sector fraud preventionAre responsible for fraud analyst training or new fraud analyst onboardingWant to understand how AI governance and deepfake document fraud are reshaping the threat landscapeAre early in your fraud career and want honest advice from professionals across banking, government, law enforcement, and fintech

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode is a little different, and honestly, a lot of fun. We recorded this one live from the ACFE conference while playing a game of Uno. And if you've worked in fraud long enough, you already know why that felt like the perfect setup. Just when you think you've figured everything out, someone throws down a reverse card, the rules change, and suddenly you're solving a completely different problem. Joining me are three incredible fraud leaders: Karen Boyer, Steve Lenderman, and Jen Lamont. What starts as a lighthearted game quickly turns into a candid conversation about some of the biggest questions facing fraud teams today. From agentic AI fraud and synthetic identity fraud to fraud leadership, analyst development, scam prevention, and where human expertise still matters most. One thing I loved about this conversation is that there was no script. Just practitioners sharing honest opinions about what's changing, what's overhyped, and what they believe will define the next generation of fraud prevention. What you'll hear in this episode:Why agentic AI fraud could reshape the future of synthetic identity fraudThe growing risks surrounding synthetic agents fraud and autonomous digital identitiesWhy human in the loop AI remains critical for fraud preventionWhether AI should investigate alerts or focus on SAR automationThe future role of fraud analysts in an AI-driven industryWhy check fraud continues to frustrate fraud professionalsThe value of networking, mentorship, and industry collaboration You should listen to this episode if you:Lead a fraud prevention, investigations, risk, or financial crimes team and want to hear how other practitioners are thinking about agentic AI fraud and the future of the industry.Are exploring how AI in fraud, machine learning fraud detection, and fraud detection automation can improve operations without losing the value of human expertise.Want a practical discussion on synthetic identity fraud, synthetic agents fraud, and the next generation fraud threats that financial institutions should be preparing for.Are evaluating where human in the loop AI, AI fraud alert triage, AI writing SARs, and SAR automation fit into your fraud program—and where human judgment should remain at the center.Enjoy candid conversations between experienced fraud professionals on leadership, analyst development, fraud education, and the real challenges shaping modern fraud prevention.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Over the last few months, I've had more conversations about agentic payments than just about any other topic. At conferences, on webinars, and in discussions with some of the smartest people in payments, compliance, and fraud, one thing has become clear to me: I think we're asking the wrong question. Most people want to know whether AI will start moving money. The question I keep coming back to is this: How do fraud teams investigate transactions when software starts making decisions? In this solo episode, I pull together insights from recent conversations with Matt Vega, Mary Ann Miller, and Matt Janiga to explore what agentic commerce really means for fraud investigations, SAR reporting, and the future of financial crime investigations. We talk about why traditional fraud models have always assumed a human initiated the payment, why that assumption no longer holds, and what investigators will need to understand when AI agents begin making decisions on behalf of customers. The technology may be changing, but the principles of good fraud prevention are not. Documentation, audit trails, authority management, explainability, and strong transaction monitoring will become even more important as agentic payments move from theory to reality. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why agentic payments are fundamentally different from traditional payment automation.How agentic commerce changes the way fraud teams investigate payment fraud.Why audit trails, attribution, and explainability will become essential during fraud investigations.How SAR reporting and AML investigations may evolve as AI becomes part of the payment decision process.Why regulators are focused on enabling innovation safely instead of slowing it down.The three questions every fraud investigator should begin asking today to prepare for the future. You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud prevention, AML compliance, investigations, or financial crime.File suspicious activity reports or conduct SAR reporting.Lead fraud operations, transaction monitoring, or payment investigations.Are evaluating how AI and agentic commerce will affect your institution.Want practical steps your team can begin implementing today instead of waiting for the rulebook to catch up.

What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! In this episode, I’m sitting down with Mudassar Malik, Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and Founder and CEO of Deconflict.com, to talk about something our industry needs to get a whole lot better at: financial crime deconflict. Money mule networks do not care where one institution’s visibility ends and another one begins. Pig butchering scams, romance scams, business email compromise, BEC fraud, account takeover, wire fraud, they all move across people, accounts, institutions, platforms, and jurisdictions. Meanwhile, too many of us are still trying to solve pieces of the same case from opposite sides of the wall. Mudassar walks us through what happens when law enforcement and banking actually have a better way to connect investigative intelligence, share what they are seeing, and recognize when different teams may be looking at the same financial crime pattern from different angles. This episode is not about sharing everything with everybody. It is about better fraud response, better financial crime intelligence, and better collaboration between the people who are already fighting the same criminal networks. Because if a credit union, a community bank, a larger institution, and law enforcement are all seeing pieces of the same mule activity, but nobody can connect those pieces fast enough, the criminals keep moving. And the victims keep paying for it. What you’ll hear in this episode: Why financial crime deconflict matters for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and law enforcementHow the Deconflict platform helps connect investigative intelligence across financial crime casesWhy money mule networks, pig butchering scams, romance scams, and BEC fraud require cross-institutional visibilityWhere 314(b)d information sharing fits into the larger fraud response conversationWhy financial institution fraud prevention cannot stop at the edge of one institution’s dataHow law enforcement data sharing can help fraud fighters move from isolated cases to connected intelligenceWhat teams can take back to think differently about collaboration and case escalation You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud, BSA, AML, investigations, or financial crime intelligence at a bank or credit unionAre trying to improve financial institution fraud prevention without adding more disconnected alertsSupport fraud response for scams, mule activity, business email compromise, or suspicious account movementWant a better way to think about law enforcement data sharing and investigative collaboration