Blog Post

Forensic document examination is foundational to OrboGraph’s OrbNet Forensic AI technology. To assist in describing the applicability of forensics in banking, fraud detection, and payments, we talked to forensic expert and author, Khody Detwiler, for this week’s Modernizing Omnichannel Check Fraud Detection post.

Key4Women, an organization dedicated to supporting the financial progress and empowerment of business women, presented a terrific, highly useful discussion of the latest in fraud threats and how to protect yourself at home and in the office with best practices shared from industry experts.

In a story from The Boston Globe, we learn about a counterfeit check scheme involving recruitment (and intimidation) of homeless and transient people from Providence to commit fraud in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. This was not a pandemic-related scheme; the four suspects began their scam in the fall of 2018, cashing or attempting to cash 450 counterfeit checks amounting to an estimated $450,000, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Providence.

“Wonder when I’ll get my stimulus check? Unfortunately, some Washington state residents are out of luck for a while. They are being warned to be diligent about monitoring mailboxes after police found more than 100 pieces of stolen mail — including some stimulus checks — in a vehicle in Olympic National Park.

Scammers often flatter targets into submission Social media offers a buffet of possible targets In this case – a happy ending! One thing that can be said for fraudsters is that they know how to take advantage of human nature. The Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch reported recently on an enterprising “photographer” who used Instagram to…

New and innovative payment rails — the payment platforms or a payment network that moves money from a payer to a payee — are designed to bring some of the biggest legacy pain points of the financial services industry down to size. Fast, smooth passage of funds is a plus for all sides of a transaction.

The good news is this: COVID vaccinations are becoming easier and easier to get for more and more people in the United States. Many states are opening up vaccinations to the general public after early limited availablity, making it possible for anyone to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and (so far) its variants. As more and more people get immunized, we head toward “herd immunity” and — dare we hope? — normal life again. As of mid April, half of all US adults will have been vaccinated.

While it would be nice to hear that the goal pandemic has slowed down scammers much like it has impacted above-board businesses of all kinds, the opposite is unfortunately true. The FBI has seen more complaints over the last year than years prior. As reported at KimKomando.com, The FBI’s Internet Crime Report annual release has revealed a shocking scope of online scams in the 2020 version. The FBI logged 791,790 complaints in 2020 — that’s 300,000+ more than in 2019.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued an advisory to banks that outlined fourteen red flag indicators to be on the lookout for (and report) related to pandemic related economic relief payments. “Advisory on Financial Crimes Targeting COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments” is based on FinCEN’s “analysis of COVID-19-related information obtained from Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data, public reporting, and law enforcement partners.”