In Episode 8 of Digital Tells we speak with Suzanne Sando, Senior Fraud and Cybersecurity Analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research. BioCatch recently published a report written on our behalf by analysts at Javelin Strategy and Research titled New Account Fraud A Threat Down Every Avenue (https://www.biocatch.com/resources/analyst-report/new-account-fraud-a-threat-down-every-avenue).In this discussion, Suzanne discusses many aspects of new account fraud, including identity theft and synthetic identities, stimulus fraud, the rise of Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL), money laundering and anti-money laundering compliance, and opportunities for financial institutions to address these increasingly hot challenges.Peter Beardmore BioCatch recently published a report written on our behalf by analysts at Javelin Strategy and Research. It's titled New Account Fraud A Threat Down Every Avenue. There's a link to the report in the show notes. And in the run up to the report's publication, I had an opportunity to talk with its principal author, Javelins Suzanne Sando. We talked about a range of topics from scams to mule accounts to buy now, pay later, and identity theft, all relating to the challenges institutions face when it comes to new account fraud and strategies for dealing with these challenges. If you're a regular listener to the podcast, you know that normally I script a narrative infused with clips from conversations I've had in preparation for each episode. But for this episode, we've decided to switch it up a little, mostly because I don't think there's really anything to improve upon Suzanne's commentary on all the topics we discussed. So here it is, my complete discussion with javelins. Suzanne Sandow, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today.Suzanne SandoAbsolutely.Peter BeardmoreSo, Suzanne, let's get started with just some introductions. Can you tell us what you do and what your origin story is, how you got to where you are?Suzanne Sando Sure. I wish it was interesting in some of these Marvel movies I've been watching, but. So my name is Suzanne Sando. I am a senior fraud and cyber security analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research. And I've been there about two years prior to getting into the analyst role. I was actually doing a lot of behind the scenes coding work. So I worked for a major financial institution in the U.S. and I did a lot of payment systems, back end coding, worked a lot of personal information, a lot of private data. So I kind of have that technology background that I bring to this new analyst role.Peter BeardmoreSo you've been working on a number of reports. Javelin just released, a fairly large identity related study,

In Episode 7 of Digital Tells we speak with Iain Swaine, Director of Global Advisory for BioCatch in the EMEA region. Iain reviews four different drivers of vulnerability as defined by the...

The sixth episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast examines the market for behavioral biometrics. What are the top challenges in preventing fraud in digital channels, and what technologies are on the radars of fraud practitioners? How do organizations like BioCatch partner and innovate with financial institutions to identify and isolate the Digital Tells that can help detect fraud? And how may behavioral biometrics evolve in the metaverse?Digital Tells’ host Peter Beardmore (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbeardmore/) opens with an account of his recent conversation with Billy Beane (https://www.biocatch.com/blog/an-inspiring-evening-with-billy-beane) from The Oakland A’s baseball organization. His discussion draws parallels between the evolution of baseball in the 21st Century with the game-changing digital analytics that have changed nearly every industry. Tom Field (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-field-9824584/), SVP of Information Security Media Group, discusses the 2021 Fraud Transformation Survey: Detecting and Preventing Emerging Schemes (https://www.biocatch.com/resources/2021-fraud-transformation-survey-detecting-and-preventing-emerging-schemes). BioCatch Chairman, Howard Edelstein (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phowardedelstein/) and BioCatch Co-founder, Uri Rivner (https://www.linkedin.com/in/uri-rivner-0012012/) share stories of innovating with customer development partners. And Peter Beardmore reflects on future opportunities for gleaning emotional insights in impassive online transactions (https://www.biocatch.com/blog/emotional-insights).Transcript:Peter BeardmoreWhen first introducing the concept of Behavioral Biometrics back in episode 1 of this podcast, we drew a parallel to the story of Billy Beane - the Oakland Athetics baseball team general manager whose adherence to Sabermetrics, a statistical and analytical approach to the game, revolutionized the sport. A few weeks ago, shortly after recording episode 1, I actually had the opportunity to speak with Beane in an event BioCatch hosted. I blogged about it shortly thereafter, there’s a link in the shownotes. Anyway, I took the opportunity to challenge Beane a bit. Because while he became famous following multiple division championships, a best-selling book and a hit movie (starring Brad Pitt) ~ there’s been a lot of criticism about Sabermetrics kind of - well ruining the game of baseball. There’s this pace of play problem, games are running longer, attendance is down, the fan base is older than those of other sports.And Beane was - unapologetic. He said look - data analytics is revolutionizing everything. It’s not just baseball. It’s every industry.

The Fourth episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast dives into the phenomenon of online money mules. What is a mule? How does one become a mule? Why do or why should financial ins...

The fourth episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast focuses on scams and social engineering. Why is there so much scam activity these days? Why are these scams so successful? And what, if anything, can financial institutions do to help protect themselves and their customer?We open with a first-hand story of a brilliant social engineering, told by Coby Montoya (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cobymontoya/). Tim Dalgleish (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdalgleish/) discusses some of the Digital Tells that may indicate scam activity. And Ayelet Biger-Levin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin-a32b81/) explains the layers of machine learning and analytics that converge to detect scams.  TranscriptCoby Montoya Sometime in fall in 2019, I was working from home. Middle of the workday, I received this text message from it says it's from Capital One. It says, Hey, there's been a charge on your card at this Wal-Mart in California. Is that you? Yes or no? I said no. I responded back. And I immediately took out my Capital One card and looked at the back, called the phone number in the back to report this, you know, hey, this definitely was not me.Peter Beardmore The voice you were just hearing if from a gentleman I met recently. He’s a professional, in his late 30’s, lives in Arizona.. and the scenario he’s discussing not uncommon. It’s happened to me. It’s likely happened to you… but this story gets interesting….Coby Montoya So as I'm on hold, I receive additional texts. Says, OK, this wasn't you type one if you would like someone to call you instead of having to call and sit on hold. So again, middle of my workday, you know, this is much easier for me than having this on hold. So I said, Sure, have someone call me back a few minutes later, actually, probably less than a minute. I receive a call back and the phone number was, you know, same phone number for my Capital One card. And so I let them know, Hey, this was not me. You know, I identified myself. I authenticate myself, providing some basic information, and they say, OK, well, we can send you a replacement card. We'll deactivate this one. It's going to take about three to five business days to receive this card. It's actually a card I use very frequently. So I ask them, Hey, is there any way you could send this out sooner? They said, Well, we can. There's a fee that comes with that, but you know, you just experienced fraud. So we're going to go out and waive that fee for you, right? All right. Great. Good experience. And I appreciate it. And so they said before we send this replacement card out, however,

The third episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast tackles the global epidemic of identity theft, and the resulting fraudulent accounts that ruin personal credit ratings, perpetuate mule activity and money laundering, and drain institutions of $Billions annually. Tom O’Malley (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-o-malley-591b329b/) joins us again to discuss why most account opening fraud occurs online. Raj Dasgupta (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajdg/) from BioCatch, discusses the peculiar online behaviors exhibited by cybercriminals, versus those of genuine account applicants; The Digital Tells that help Behavioral Biometrics distinguish between criminal and genuine activity. Ayelet Biger-Levin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin-a32b81/) discusses BioCatch’s newly-announced Age Analysis Capability (https://www.biocatch.com/press-release/biocatch-launches-age-analysis-a-new-capability-to-protect-elderly-and-vulnerable-consumers). And Howard Edelstein (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phowardedelstein/) shares a story of account opening fraud detection that has become BioCatch lore. Tom O’Malley, a retired U.S. Department of Justice financial crimes prosecutor, founded a website, FrozenPII.org (https://frozenpii.org/), which helps consumers protect their identity. Check it out!TranscriptHave you ever been the victim of identity theft? Ever applied for a loan or a credit card, only to find out someone else has masqueraded as you and negatively effected your credit standing? Identity theft and new account fraud is a global problem. If you live in the United States, chances are you’ve been a victim – and if not ~ it’s likely someone close to you has been.I was chatting with Tom O’Malley, the former federal financial crimes prosecutor you met in Episode 2, and we were discussing identity theft. The U.S. federal trade commission reported recently that $3.3B was lost in 2020 due to identity theft – that’s nearly double the $1.8B lost in 2019. And where are those stolen identities put to work? well, online of course – in the form of new accounts – credit card accounts, lines of credit, deposit accounts, you name it. Here’s Tom O’MalleyTom O'Malley

The second episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast looks at how sophisticated cybercrime networks perpetrate mass account take over fraud. Former U.S. federal prosecutor and consumer identity expert Tom O’Malley (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-o-malley-591b329b/) shares an overview of the GozNym cybercrime network, from which three members were prosecuted in 2019. We also talk with Jonathan Barnes, a retired attorney who discovered while on vacation that his personal bank account was being drained by cybercriminals. Finally we speak with Tim Dalgleish (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdalgleish/) and Ayelet Biger-Levin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-biger-levin-a32b81/), both of BioCatch, to discuss both the tactics of cybercriminals and the ‘Digital Tells’ that may help to identify account take over fraud. Tom O’Malley founded a website, FrozenPII.org (https://frozenpii.org/), which helps consumers protect their identity. Check it out!

The inaugural episode of Digital Tells: A BioCatch Podcast explores the origins of behavioral biometrics with BioCatch founder Uri Rivner and Chairman and CEO Howard Edelstein. The episode begins with host Peter Beardmore’s visits with his elderly mother and aunt, both having recently been targeted by scammers. Their stories illustrate the prevalence of cybercrime and scams throughout society, and the need for innovative solutions to help protect consumers and financial institutions alike. The concept of technology that can use the ‘Digital Tells’ of online behavior (mouse movements, typing habits, etc.) to validate users or determine fraudulent intent may seem like the stuff of science fiction. In fact, it initially did to some of the leaders of BioCatch. But today, it’s real, preventing over 6 million fraud incidents per year and protecting hundreds of millions of people.