Financial Crime - Long Reads, News, Articles & Research: Finextra

Four festive payment frauds to watch this Christmas

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

Four festive payment frauds to watch this Christmas

Payments in the UK are feeling the chill this Christmas – especially in the retail sector, which rose only 0.2% last month, despite the Black Friday flurry. This figure is part of a wider trend of sluggish economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, slumped consumer sentiment, as well as a general lack of confidence following Labour’s divisive ...

24 December 2024 /crime

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

6 social media scams to look out for

Social media firms have been under increased pressure to improve fraud monitoring due to scams originating on the platforms. This comes after Authorised Push Payment (APP) victim reimbursement scheme came into effect on 7 October. Payment Service Providers are required to reimburse victims of APP fraud up to £85,000, but some are arguing social me...

15 October 2024 /crime

Hurricane Milton: How to avoid natural disaster scams and fraud

Madhvi Sonia Head of Content at Finextra

Hurricane Milton: How to avoid natural disaster scams and fraud

As Hurricane Milton gradually tracks away from Florida, leaving deadly storm surges, flooding rain and high winds in its path, it is an unfortunate reality that fraudsters will try and capitalise on the misfortune and vulnerability of those affected. This week, the US Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financi...

10 October 2024 /crime

What you need to know about APP reimbursement

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What you need to know about APP reimbursement

Authorised Push Payment (APP) victim reimbursement scheme comes into effect today under rules from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). Payment service providers (PSPs) are now required to reimburse victims of APP fraud, up to £85,000, split evenly between the sending and receiving PSP. Reimbursement is likely great news for many consumers, howeve...

07 October 2024 /crime

Deepfakes: The role banks play in fraud education

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Deepfakes: The role banks play in fraud education

Last week, Santander released deepfake images of their head of fraud risk management Chris Ainsley and ‘finfluencer’ Mr Money Jar, Timi Merriman-Johnson, to raise awareness of scam potential of this technology. Deepfake scams are a growing threat for financial services, although they are not necessarily a threat which many banks are deeply conce...

13 August 2024 /crime

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

How to prevent a cyber-attack

In June, Russian ransomware-as-a-service gang, Qilin, stole data covering 300 million NHS patient interactions – and demanded an alleged £40 million for its return. The leak meant that two of the health service’s biggest trusts, King’s College hospital and Guy’s & St Thomas’, “had to cancel 1,134 planned operations, including cancer and trans...

02 July 2024 /crime

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

How to spot APP fraud

According to Nick Green, director, Purple Patch Broking, “APP fraud is now the number one payments threat and is expected to reach $5.25 billion by 2026.” Last year alone, UK bank fraud losses topped £1 billion. Authorised push payments (APP) fraud is the increasingly sophisticated financial crime that tricks victims into sending funds directly...

25 June 2024 /crime

AML Basics: How to prevent money laundering

Dominique Dierks Content Manager at Finextra

AML Basics: How to prevent money laundering

In today’s globalised economy, money laundering is increasingly concerning for financial institutions worldwide. 2022 alone, the worst-recorded year for AML events, recorded over 16,000 AML events. In the UK, the government estimates that money laundering costs every single household £255 a year. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that crimin...

05 April 2024 /crime

What’s AML? Understanding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing

Dominique Dierks Content Manager at Finextra

What’s AML? Understanding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing

In banking, AML (anti-money laundering) describes legally recognised rules and activities that financial institutions perform in order to combat money laundering. AML is closely attached to CFT (counter-financing of terrorism), and AML regulations tend to combine money laundering (source) with terrorism financing (destination). What are the main t...

22 March 2024 /crime

The FinCrime outlook 2024: Money mules, AI, and new PSR rules

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The FinCrime outlook 2024: Money mules, AI, and new PSR rules

Financial crime is on the rise every year, as criminals hone their tools with new technologies and find more ways to circumvent controls. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, users should be aware of the threats they pose. So what kind of developments might we expect from the coming year, and what have we learned from the mistakes made in 2...

22 February 2024 /crime

Lost my heart to a deepfake: Dump your fraudster this Valentine’s

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Lost my heart to a deepfake: Dump your fraudster this Valentine’s

Shadows are creeping up from the depths of the dark web, ensnaring lonely hearts at their lowest by using loving words and falsified images to sink their claws into their bank accounts, emptying their funds and leaving them heartbroken and penniless. Romance fraud has become a common form of gaining the trust of a victim to financially exploit the...

14 February 2024 /crime

The state of cybercrime in the financial sector

Dominique Dierks Content Manager at Finextra

The state of cybercrime in the financial sector

Digital innovation continues to accelerate, but modernisation also offers a fertile breeding ground for cybercriminals. According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report, surveying cybercrime across 16 countries, the financial sector comes in second in the global cyberincident damage statistics. More gravely, the average cost of a cyberattack is...

09 February 2024 /crime

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