Account Fraud: Your Customers are the Weakest Link

As the newest staff member of NEACH, I've been spending some time getting my bearings and soaking up as much information as I can about the payments landscape.  In my last role as an internal auditor, I was primarily concerned with the products offered by my institution. I didn't get to dig into the fun new and exciting products unless we were going to be implementing one of them.  Now that my job entails all things payments, I can delve into all of it; and I think that's at least part of the reason I've become particularly interested in our membership in and the work of the US Faster Payments Council (USFPC).  The Faster Payments Council is an industry-led membership organization whose vision is a world-class payment system where Americans can safely and securely pay anyone, anywhere, at any time and with near-immediate funds availability.

In the latest blog post and 2021 Faster Payments Fraud Survey and Report linked below from our friends at the USFPC, they discuss the results of a survey conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research. While the USFPC is focused on faster payments, we know that payments transactions of all kinds are being hijacked by fraudsters who prey upon and exploit consumers. Consumers are being manipulated to send funds to bad actors who defraud them into believing that they're in love or that a loved one is in harm's way; or to hand over their account information and credentials to fraudsters impersonating financial institution employees.  The fraudsters are becoming more cunning and sophisticated. Read the blog post to see what the survey respondents are experiencing.

How is your organization adapting to the ever-changing fraud landscape? Do you educate your consumers on the latest scams designed to empty their bank accounts? 

Are you aware of the fraud resources NEACH has for being informed about the latest developments? You can join NEACH's Fraud Community on Members Corner here:  https://engage.neach.org/communities/community-home?CommunityKey=70a26012-e87b-412e-af19-8057025a7ccf; or take advantage of one or more of our upcoming webinars:

• Quarterly Fraud Reviews – 6/17/2022, 9/16/2022, 11/4/2022
• Who's Calling? Social Engineering Fraud 2022 – 7/14/2022
• Fraud Symposium - 9/8/2022
• ACH Fraud – The Rules and Beyond - 10/13/2022

From the USFPC:

When it comes to payments fraud, we as humans can be our own worst enemy. The results of the recently released Faster Payments Council's 2021 Faster Payments Fraud Survey and Report point to a similar observation, with a key takeaway affirming that "Humans continue to be a weak point in the payments ecosystem." To learn more about the results of the report and the ways in which faster payments fraud is perpetuated through human manipulation, among others, read the latest blog post from the FPC, Payments Fraud: Taking Advantage of the Human in Us.