Soaring scam and fraud sophistication remains top challenge for financial services sector

May 7, 2024

Mitek’s new Identity Intelligence Index unmasks emerging security threats to banks, including AI-generated fraud and deepfakes

Douglas BlakeyMay 7, 2024

Just over three-quarters (76%) of banks believe fraud cases and scams have become more sophisticated, according to Mitek. Financial institutions are on the frontlines of the evolving threat landscape. Mitek’s research reveals the concerns that affect them as they try to keep people, their money, and their data safe.

Mitek Identity Intelligence Index key findings

Banking risk and innovation leaders surveyed grapple with concerns across many different fraud types. Their biggest fraud threats are currently money laundering (25%), account takeover (23%) and forgeries (21%). The biggest challenges today are the rise of AI-generated fraud and deepfakes (37%).

Almost a third (32%) of risk professionals estimate that up to 30% of all transactions are fraudulent. This provides insight into how complicated the fraud landscape is today.

New customers give banks the biggest shiver

The findings reveal that new customers are often the riskiest. Banks surveyed cite that customer onboarding, or account setup, is where they see the most fraud (42%) and the most risk (41%). Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) banks find it hard to identify customers at any stage of the customer journey. This is despite global Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations designed to put due diligence in place for organisations.

Banks ask for regulatory intelligence and tech simplicity

For banks that believe they could do more to protect customers, they place equal importance (36%) on needing a better understanding of the latest regulations, a reduction in the technology stack, and the ability to respond real-time to customer requests.

When comparing their security measures to prevent and/or catch fraudulent attacks, 41% of fintech professionals have identity verification in place. This compares with 33% of mature banks. One in three banking professionals cite using both liveness detection (36%) and biometrics (32%) to prevent and/or catch fraudulent attacks.

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The mission at FAST is to increase public awareness of financial exploitation with the goal of mitigating risk of exploitation and protecting our state’s vulnerable populations.

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