Understanding the criminals behind the fraud | We fight fraud

Understanding the criminals behind the scam.

Dr Nicola Harding, CEO of We Fight Fraud, is uniquely positioned to discuss the machinations of today's fraudsters.

Through her work with former criminals and law enforcement agencies, she has special insights into social engineering and call center fraud.

We spoke to her at Smartnumbers Consortium 2024 to find out what it takes to fight fraudsters.

Lessons from a criminologist

Nicola Harding is a trained criminologist and CEO of We Fight Fraud. Here she offers a compelling perspective on the need for collaboration in the fight against fraud. As an academic and leader of an organisation that uniquely combines the expertise of former criminals and law enforcement experts, Dr Harding stressed the importance of understanding fraud from multiple perspectives. Her aim at the event was to share this knowledge and explore ways to collaborate more effectively in the fight against fraud.

A central theme of her talk revolved around her claim that “data is the new oil.” As part of her work with We Fight Fraud, the organization studies criminal behavior in depth to anticipate and counter fraud threats. By combining her academic background with the insights of former fraudsters and police officers, she is able to offer a multi-dimensional view of the fraud landscape. She noted that the event provided an opportunity to share this knowledge with other attendees, with a focus on how this understanding of criminal methods could be applied in practice.

One of the most pressing issues she discussed is the vulnerability of call centers to fraud. According to Dr. Harding, call centers are particularly attractive to fraudsters because they provide a direct communication channel to an organization. In an age where many transactions are automated, fraudsters are avoiding the typical “click-through” processes that online systems use and instead targeting human employees who they can manipulate through social engineering. By interacting with call center employees, fraudsters are attempting to obtain important information that they can use to commit fraud at a later date.

Through her work, Dr. Harding has seen firsthand how well or poorly organizations handle these threats. She described how good practices in call centers can quickly put a stop to fraudsters, while bad practices – such as an employee saying, “I shouldn't tell you this, but…” – open the door to exploitation. It's moments like these, she said, that fraudsters take advantage of, as these small miscalculations give them exactly the information they need to compromise a system or account.

Dr Harding passionately emphasised the importance of collaboration in the fight against fraud, echoing a message shared by other experts at the event such as Lukasz Wodniok and Gareth Evans. She underlined that fraudsters work exceptionally well together and often share information and techniques with each other. To successfully combat these threats, organisations must adopt a similar mindset, collaborate, share information and close security gaps in a cohesive manner.

Their final message was clear: the fight against fraud cannot be fought in isolation. Organizations, industries and security experts must work together effectively to stay one step ahead of fraudsters' increasingly sophisticated tactics.

Be sure to check out more videos from this series here.