The Account Lifecycle Pattern Behind Today’s Check Fraud
- Check fraud now acts as a lifecycle threat, tightly linked to account age
- Fraud shifts from synthetic-ID abuse on new accounts to sleeper-driven counterfeit checks
- Tenured accounts face collusion and takeover, demanding adaptive, AI-driven defenses tuned to lifecycle behavior.
Check fraud is no longer a simple paper-based crime; it has become a lifecycle threat that tracks closely with how long an account has been open and how well it has learned to “look” trustworthy.
In a recent Forbes Technology Council post, Rodney Drake of VALID Systems outlines how synthetic identities, sleeper accounts and stolen checks now converge with data-driven tactics, reshaping the risk landscape for financial institutions. The research, conducted in conjunction with SentiLink, provides alarming findings tying check fraud to the age of account.
Findings from the Report
The report breaks down the age of accounts into four categories:
- New Account Fraud (< 30 Days)
- Young Account Fraud (2 – 6 Months)
- Aging Account Fraud (7 – 12 Months)
- Tenured Account Fraud (> 1 Year)
Each category possess its own unique characteristics -- and, in turn, their own set of challenges. The analysis of 70 million accounts shows that fraud patterns change as accounts mature, creating distinct danger zones.
Check Fraud Detection Across Accounts of All Ages
VALID and SentiLink’s joint investigation shows that check deposit fraud is a coordinated, evolving threat that spans the entire account lifecycle. Fraud tactics change as accounts age, detection effectiveness declines over time, and high-risk windows exist at every stage, making static fraud controls inadequate. To combat this complexity, financial institutions need dynamic, multi-layered detection strategies and stronger industry collaboration to share intelligence, anticipate emerging threats, and better protect customers and assets.
This is where solutions like OrboGraph’s Anywhere Deposit Fraud solution shine. The solution was developed specifically to identify fraudulent checks deposited in any deposit channel, most typically at the bank of first deposit (BoFD). Anywhere Deposit Fraud utilizes a sophisticated multi-layer approach which generates a highly accurate composite score — ensuring that when a fraudulent item evades detection in one layer, subsequent layers enhance the likelihood of identification, ensuring robust and reliable outcomes.
For more information or to schedule a discussion on deposit fraud detection, visit www.orbograph.com/anywhere-deposit-fraud/.