Fraud Forward

Episódios

• 
  IAFCI, part 2: Fraud Fighter Sound Check on B2B Fraud 16.09.2026 42min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This episode is another one that is unplugged, on the road, and recorded live at IAFCI International in Nashville. I am spending more time talking with the people who fight fraud from every angle. This time we talked about consumer fraud, identity theft, romance scams, account takeover on someone’s personal banking app, and the stuff that leads to the nightly news. But businesses get defrauded too, and when they do, it doesn’t just hit a balance sheet. It hits jobs, it hits communities, yet it barely hits the headlines.These conversations will hit on a lot, and we will cover one topic that maybe doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. B2B fraud. From business identity verification, synthetic business entities, the regulatory gaps opening up around beneficial ownership, and where AI is genuinely helping instead of just adding to the noise.Sit down, and let’s get into it with the fraud fighters sounding off on B2B fraud, synthetic entities, and everything AI is changing about the fight ahead.What you'll hear in this episode:Why B2B fraud gets a fraction of the attention consumer fraud does, even though the downstream impact on employees and communities can be just as severe.How synthetic business entities and beneficial ownership fraud are becoming easier to pull off, and why recent FinCEN ownership rule changes are widening that gap.A real example of business email compromise reaching its highest recorded volume in FinCEN's history, and how compromised business inbox markets let criminals study a company's own email patterns before striking.What abandoned identity fraud actually means, criminals exploiting the identities of babies, deceased individuals, and people who simply don't monitor their own credit.Why traditional banking fraud vulnerabilities, like slow-moving cross-border wire fraud, are getting overlooked while everyone's attention shifts to AI and crypto.A practical framework for proactive fraud detection, including fraud detection beyond login and why the real fight starts before someone ever reaches your app.How layered fraud detection stacks and agentic AI fraud tools are being used to catch AI-scaled attacks, including one financial institution that saw 250,000 fraudulent account signups in a matter of days.Why IAFCI conference collaboration, a shared conversation, a follow-up call, a number saved after one good conversation, is still one of the most effective fraud-fighting tools out there.You should listen to this episode if you:Work in business banking, commercial lending, or B2B fraud detection and want to hear this category taken seriously.Are responsible for business identity verification and want to understand how beneficial ownership fraud is shifting under new FinCEN rules.Have been affected by business email compromise or want to understand how compromised business inbox markets actually operate.Are building or evaluating layered fraud detection stacks and want real examples of agentic AI fraud tools in production.Believe fraud detection beyond login matters as much as anything happening inside your app.Want a genuine feel for why IAFCI conference collaboration keeps coming up as fraud fighters' biggest advantage.
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  IAFCI Nashville: Unplugging Fraud, One Connection at a Time 09.09.2026 42min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This episode is recorded live and unplugged on the conference floor at IAFCI International in Nashville. I couldn’t fit everything I loved into one tidy gathering. Instead I’m bringing you the open floor conversations that, for me, are helping to unravel fraud and are weaving together fraud fighters.The headliner here is Michael Perez, the first ever fraudster turned fraud fighter to appear on Fraud Forward. What happened in his story is what you’ll want to hear the most. Federal agents recognized he was more valuable teaching fraud prevention than sitting on the sidelines. Beyond Michael’s story is a walk around the conference floor with a retired FBI cyber crime agent turned author, a Postal Inspector on leveraging relationships, an NYPD detective on dismantling large scale fraud schemes tied to money laundering, and two South Carolina Department of Corrections investigators on the sophisticated financial crime investigations happening behind bars.What you’ll hear in this episode:Michael Perez's full story on how his card skimming operation worked, what led to his arrest, and how he's since built tools that help detect the exact fraud he used to commit.A retired FBI cyber crime agent's take on why nearly 90% of the financial fraud he investigated could have been prevented, and the cybersecurity training mindset he now teaches.How a Postal Inspector's small agency structure makes relationship-building and fraud conference collaboration a survival skill, not a nice-to-have.An NYPD detective's approach to dismantling large scale fraud schemes and money laundering investigation targets, plus a real elder fraud wellness check made possible entirely through IAFCI chapter connections.What South Carolina prison investigators are finding through prison financial crime investigations on contraband cell phones, including AI enabled fraud like deepfake documents and videos, plus peer-to-peer payment fraud tied to inmate financial fraud.Why IAFCI's law enforcement and bank collaboration model, letting each side sit in on the other's sessions, is something conference attendees keep pointing to as a genuine differentiator.The recurring themes across nearly every conversation of transnational fraud schemes operating at scale, and why the fraud fighter community, not any single tool or team, is still fraud fighters' biggest advantage.You should listen to this episode if you:Are a fraud, risk, or financial crimes professional who wants a real, one-the ground feel for what IAFCI conversations actually sound like.Are someone curious what a fraudster turned fraud fighter can teach the industry that a traditional investigator can’t.Are on a fraud team or a law enforcement investigator and looking for practical examples of bank enforcement and bank collaboration paying off.Are working adjacent to card skimming, prison financial crime investigations, or elder fraud and want real case examples.Are a fraud fighter, have felt isolated in your role, and want a reminder that the fraud fighting community changes what’s possible.
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  Fireside chat: AI-driven fraud attacks 02.09.2026 40min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This one is recorded live at SardineCon as a fireside chat. You’re getting the real, unscripted version of a conversation I had with Andrew Austin from Sardine and Arjun Ramakrishnan from GoDaddy. This one involves no rehearsed talking points. Just a conversation in front of a room full of people who live this work every day. Arjun brought the merchant and payments side. Andrew brought the fraud technology side. We sat down to talk about AI driven fraud, and how cheap and fast this has all become.AI is not introducing a new species of fraud. It’s the same things we have always fought. Everything from bust-out schemes, card testing, synthetic identities, to fake businesses. What’s changed is the speed, the scale, and the cost. That’s what we spend the next forty-five minutes unpacking.What you’ll hear:How AI-generated fraudulent websites and website cloning fraud have erased one of the oldest fraud indicators fraud teams relied on. We can no longer just rely on whether a business’s website looks legitimate.How bust-out fraud has scaled from two or three manually cultivated accounts to AI agents fraud rings running 30 or 40 synthetic accounts simultaneously.Why card testing attacks no longer follow predictable dollar amounts or velocity patterns, and what that means for payment fraud velocity patterns detection.The real tension fraud teams face balancing KYB friction vs fraud, and why adding more friction can push legitimate customers to a competitor.Why consortium data fraud detection and network-level fraud analysis matter more than ever when a single fraud ring can span dozens of seemingly unrelated accounts.How cost asymmetry in fraud is reshaping the entire fight, where attackers iterate for cents while defenders spend real dollars to respond.Why traditional fraud loss forecasting models are becoming unreliable in a world of constantly evolving agentic fraud attacks.What fraud team innovation strategy actually needs to look like going forward, including real-time fraud detection, fraud rule engine automation, and a genuine embrace of AI fraud cost barrier realities.You should listen to this episode if you:Work in merchant onboarding fraud risk, payments, or trust and safety and want a grounded, practitioner-level view of AI driven fraud.Are responsible for detecting synthetic identity fraud, card not present fraud, or bust-out fraud at a bank, fintech, or payments platform.Have ever had to defend a KYB friction vs fraud tradeoff to your sales or product team and want language to make that case better.Are evaluating consortium data fraud detection or network-level fraud analysis tools and want real-world context for why they matter now.Lead a fraud team trying to figure out where to actually invest given the AI fraud cost barrier attackers no longer face.Want a live conversation with real talk from people actively fighting this every day.
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  SardineCon 2026 Debrief: Live from the Show Floor 26.08.2026 31min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This one’s a little different. I recorded this episode live on the floor at SardineCon 2026, and instead of one long sit down with a single guest, you're getting a debrief of the day. One conversation after another, right where they happened.I kicked things off by catching up with Simon Taylor after his opening keynote. From there I sat down with Tal Yeshanov, Head of Risk and Compliance at Zeni, who’s spent 17 years in payment risk and consulting. Everything from chargeback abuse to friendly fraud to credit risk. Then came the conversation that’s going to stick with you. Joseph Cox didn’t just talk about AI powered fraud in theory. And to close out the day, Karisse Hendrick and I got into a full recap of Sardine Con.If you couldn’t make it this year, consider this your SardineCon 2026 debrief. Straight from the people who were actually there.What you’ll hear:Simon Taylor on whether the industry actually understands AI or is just moving fast enough to look like it doesTal Yeshanov on 17 years in payment risk, and the practical takeaways she's already applying from SardineCon sessions on AI and AB testingJoseph Cox walking through how he built and deployed a fake ID against a real KYC process, and what it revealed about where fraud detection still falls shortWhy agentic commerce came up in almost every conversation on the show floor, and what it means for how fraud teams need to start thinkingKarisse Hendrick on her SardineCon roundtable, where the room debated who owns liability when an agent makes the purchaseA rundown of the sessions, fireside chats, and roundtables that shaped the day, plus a look at Sardine's own workflow productYou should listen to this episode if you:Couldn’t make it to SardineCon 2026 and want the debrief straight from the floorAre trying to figure out where agentic commerce fits into your fraud strategyWant to hear what it actually looks like when someone tests fake ID detection and KYC testing against real defenses instead of just talking about itAre building out deepfake detection and want perspective from people who are living it day to dayWant to hear how a traditional bank is thinking about fraud alongside the fintech and crypto crowdLike your fraud content with a little conference energy instead of another studio recording
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  More than a transaction: What Happened to the Career Teller? 19.08.2026 51min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This one started with a can of hairspray. Jen Lamont and I were getting ready for a networking event, and somehow a conversation about hair products turned into a conversation about the future of fraud prevention in banking. Because we ended up talking about her mom. A career teller in banking for decades. Someone who knew multiple generations of families, who turned down promotions to stay at the window because she loved the people, who took pride in the role in ways that I think a lot of institutions have quietly trained out of the job. And that got me asking a question I haven't been able to shake since: have we made it harder for the people closest to our customers to actually see them? We still call tellers our first line of defense. But we've also loaded that line with sales goals, referral quotas, transaction time expectations, compliance responsibilities, and lobby metrics. Meanwhile, fraud has gotten more human than ever. Scammers aren't just stealing credentials anymore. They're manipulating customers into moving the money themselves. And the only person standing between a coached customer and a wire going out the door is often a teller who has been measured on everything except whether they noticed something felt wrong.Jen brings a perspective to this conversation that I think is rare and really important. She's a fraud professional who grew up watching her mom build a full career at the teller window. She's seen what that role looks like when it's valued, and she's spent years as a practitioner trying to figure out how to rebuild some of that in institutions where the teller role has shifted into something almost unrecognizable.This is not a conversation about blame. It's a conversation about what we've inherited, what we're still questioning, and what we could do differently.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why Jen's mom's career as a teller, and the pride she took in that role, is the lens for this entire conversationHow teller performance metrics in banking have shifted from relationship quality to sales and efficiency, and what that costs us in fraud preventionA real wire fraud scenario that shows exactly what happens when a teller has a bad feeling but no clear authority or path to act on itWhy the authorized versus unauthorized distinction misses the coercion behind authorized push payment scamsWhat tellers can see that transaction monitoring systems miss, including behavioral fraud signals, coached customer body language, and vague answers to routine questionsWhy Jen sent a $35,000 wire she knew was fraud early in her career, and what changed after thatWhat a direct escalation path to the fraud team actually needs to look like, and why ticketing systems are not enoughWhy prevented scam losses should count as strongly as product referrals on a teller scorecardWhat a senior teller career path and frontline fraud specialist role could actually look likeThe phrase you should keep in your pocket for any frontline employee dealing with a suspicious transactionYou should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud or risk and want to understand what the career teller in banking brings to your fraud prevention program that your systems cannot replicateLead a branch, manage frontline staff, or set teller performance metrics and want to know whether your scorecards are creating conflict between service speed and teller scam detectionAre trying to build a better escalation path between your frontline and your fraud teamWant practical, actionable recommendations you can bring back to your institution this weekHave ever seen a scam succeed because the teller had the right instinct and no room to act on itAre building a fraud ambassador program or a senior teller fraud specialist role and want a framework for thinking through itCare about the human cost of fraud and want to hear a conversation about it from people who have sat with those losses
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  How Vault.Bank launched digital banking without launching fraud 12.08.2026 1h 1min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!Community banks know they need digital transformation in banking to stay competitive. They also know one bad launch can overwhelm a fraud team, frustrate customers, and torch years of trust. So today we're going beyond the headline case study to unpack how one community bank actually pulled it off.I'm joined by Omar Hamden, Chief Experience Officer at Vault.Bank, and Jorge Garcia, CEO of Linker Finance, to talk about how a 120-year-old community bank in Broadhead, Wisconsin turned itself into a digital brand, without opening the door to the fraud everyone assumes comes with it.Omar didn’t want a system that approved everyone or treated every customer like a suspect. He wanted risk-based account opening that could actually tell the difference, and it worked. Fraud losses in digital banking at Vault have stayed close to zero since launch, with onboarding now taking about three minutes, funding included.Most banks assume digital growth means a bigger fraud team. Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with two people. That's it. No army of analysts, just the right core banking integration and automation in place from day one.Jorge breaks down why vendor selection for community bank leaders, not the technology, is usually the real blocker for community banks trying to launch digitally, and how Linker built a turnkey approach so Vault didn't have to stitch together a dozen point solutions on its own.The numbers back all of it up. Vault grew deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate, and customer retention rate sits close to 90%. If your institution is weighing a digital brand launch in community banking, this digital banking case study is the one to send to your board.What you'll hear in this episode:How Vault.Bank and Linker Finance came together to launch a digital-only brand for a community bank under $300 million in assets.Why risk-based account opening matters more than trying to hit zero fraud alerts.How identity verification and KYC digital onboarding got built to satisfy auditors without slowing down real customers.Why Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with a team of two people, and how core banking integration and automated decisioning make that possible.How vendor selection for community bank leaders became the real blocker in digital brand launches, more than the technology itself.The deposit growth strategies for banks that helped Vault grow deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate.Why customer retention rate matters just as much as acquisition, and how nearly 90% retention changed the growth conversation.What's next as Vault plans national digital banking expansion beyond Wisconsin.Who should listen:Community bank leaders considering a digital brand launch in community banking.Fraud and risk professionals evaluating fraud losses in digital banking and looking for real, verifiable numbers.Bank executives weighing vendor selection for community bank technology partnerships.Anyone curious how lean fraud team operations actually work without a large analyst team.Community banks exploring small business lending and neobank technology in community banks as growth levers.Boards and leadership teams trying to build the business case for bank compliance automation and best of breed banking technology.
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  Trust is under attack: Inside the world of deepfakes, with Andrew Austin 05.08.2026 58min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This episode opens a little differently. And if you are not paying close attention, you will probably believe it was me. It sounds like me, it looks like me, but every bit of it is a deepfake created with artificial intelligence in about twenty minutes for less than five dollars. That is not a future threat. That is today.Andrew Austin is one of my favorite people to talk to because he does not do hype. He spends a lot of time exploring where emerging technology meets fraud risk. And this is one of the most practical conversations I have had on the show. We are not here to scare anyone. We are here to make sure fraud fighters understand exactly what they are up against and how organizations need to start thinking differently about deepfake fraud and AI voice cloning.We walk through the full landscape of deepfake technology together, from voice cloning to live face swapping to lip sync. We talk about what each one costs, how convincing each one is, and where criminals are already using deepfake scams today. Andrew breaks down why identity verification is the most vulnerable point for financial institutions right now, why real time detection of AI-generated content is still an unsolved problem, and why fraudsters do not need Hollywood quality deepfakes to be effective. They just need to be convincing enough.We do not stop at the threat. We spend the second half of the conversation talking about defenses, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, consortium data, friction design, and why employee awareness and organizational culture still matter as much as any technology investment. Andrew also shares what excites him about where AI is headed on the fraud fighting side, and what he thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraud.Fraud has always been built on manipulating trust. AI does not change that. It just gives criminals a far more convincing disguise.What you’ll hear in this episode:How Andrew created a convincing deepfake in twenty minutes for less than five dollars, and what that means for fraud teamsThe difference between voice cloning, live face swapping, and lip sync technology, and the distinct fraud risk each one createsWhy deepfake scams do not need to be perfect to work, and how criminals are already exploiting that realityWhere financial institutions are most vulnerable to AI-generated content right now, and why onboarding and IDV top the listWhy real time detection of AI-generated video content is still not a solved problemHow device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and consortium data work together to close the gaps IDV alone cannot coverWhy employee awareness and organizational culture are just as important as any technology investmentWhat Andrew thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraudWhere AI is creating real operational efficiency gains on the fraud fighting side, and why Andrew is genuinely excited about itYou should listen to this episode if you:Lead fraud, risk, compliance, or financial crimes at a bank, credit union, fintech, or neobankAre responsible for identity verification, onboarding design, or authentication strategyWant a practical, non-sensational breakdown of what deepfake scams and AI voice cloning actually look like todayAre building or updating your fraud program and want to understand where AI fraud risk fits into your existing controlsAre new to fraud and want to understand how emerging technology is reshaping what fraud fighters need to know
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  Breaking down silos at the ACFE global fraud conference 29.07.2026 38min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!I always say fraud is a team sport, and this episode is exactly why.I recorded these conversations live from the ACFE fraud conference in Boston, sitting down with five fraud fighters who each bring a completely different piece of the puzzle. Law enforcement. Banking. Government. Fintech. BSA. Investigations. Every single one of them came back to the same point: we cannot fight fraud alone, and the silos we work in are one of the biggest advantages we are handing to fraudsters.Marc Evans opened the conversation by making the case that fraud analyst training has to be rooted in real cases, not theory. Linda Miller followed with one of the most honest takes of the day: the organizations waiting for regulatory guidance before building their AI governance frameworks are already behind. Tracy Swaim added something I had never heard framed so cleanly, that document fraud is a context problem, not a technology problem. And Dustin Eaton brought it back to the data: clean, collective information is the edge, and fraudsters are counting on us not having it.Jen Lamont closed it out with a reminder that hit close to home. For every fraud fighter who cannot make it to a conference like this, the knowledge is still out there. Podcasts, white papers, LinkedIn, local and international fraud associations. This community is one of the most generous there is.And if there is one thing I took away from all five conversations, it is this: fraudsters share everything with each other. Until we do the same, we are always playing catch-up.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why the ACFE fraud conference brings together fraud fighters from banking, government, law enforcement, fintech, and investigations under one roofHow cross-sector fraud prevention helps organizations identify emerging threats fasterWhy breaking silos in fraud is one of the biggest opportunities facing our industry right nowWhat Marc Evans has learned training new fraud analysts using real investigations and holistic case dataWhy AI governance is outpacing organizational readiness, and what Linda Miller says financial institutions should do before regulations catch upHow Tracy Swaim reframes document fraud detection around interrogating context rather than authenticating the document itselfWhy clean and connected data is the foundation of effective AI-driven fraud prevention, according to Dustin EatonHow Jen Lamont approaches fraud analyst training, mentorship, and continuous learning for fraud teams at every levelCareer advice for new fraud fighters from five professionals who have built careers across every corner of this industryYou should listen to this episode if you:Attend fraud conferences and want practical ideas you can bring back to your teamLead a fraud, investigations, risk, or financial crimes program and want to strengthen cross-sector fraud preventionAre responsible for fraud analyst training or new fraud analyst onboardingWant to understand how AI governance and deepfake document fraud are reshaping the threat landscapeAre early in your fraud career and want honest advice from professionals across banking, government, law enforcement, and fintech
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  The reverse card: Live from ACFE 22.07.2026 26min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This episode is a little different, and honestly, a lot of fun. We recorded this one live from the ACFE conference while playing a game of Uno. And if you've worked in fraud long enough, you already know why that felt like the perfect setup. Just when you think you've figured everything out, someone throws down a reverse card, the rules change, and suddenly you're solving a completely different problem.Joining me are three incredible fraud leaders: Karen Boyer, Steve Lenderman, and Jen Lamont. What starts as a lighthearted game quickly turns into a candid conversation about some of the biggest questions facing fraud teams today. From agentic AI fraud and synthetic identity fraud to fraud leadership, analyst development, scam prevention, and where human expertise still matters most.One thing I loved about this conversation is that there was no script. Just practitioners sharing honest opinions about what's changing, what's overhyped, and what they believe will define the next generation of fraud prevention.What you'll hear in this episode:Why agentic AI fraud could reshape the future of synthetic identity fraudThe growing risks surrounding synthetic agents fraud and autonomous digital identitiesWhy human in the loop AI remains critical for fraud preventionWhether AI should investigate alerts or focus on SAR automationThe future role of fraud analysts in an AI-driven industryWhy check fraud continues to frustrate fraud professionalsThe value of networking, mentorship, and industry collaborationYou should listen to this episode if you:Lead a fraud prevention, investigations, risk, or financial crimes team and want to hear how other practitioners are thinking about agentic AI fraud and the future of the industry.Are exploring how AI in fraud, machine learning fraud detection, and fraud detection automation can improve operations without losing the value of human expertise.Want a practical discussion on synthetic identity fraud, synthetic agents fraud, and the next generation fraud threats that financial institutions should be preparing for.Are evaluating where human in the loop AI, AI fraud alert triage, AI writing SARs, and SAR automation fit into your fraud program—and where human judgment should remain at the center.Enjoy candid conversations between experienced fraud professionals on leadership, analyst development, fraud education, and the real challenges shaping modern fraud prevention.
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  Beyond the Button: Investigating fraud in the age of agentic payments 15.07.2026 11min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!Over the last few months, I've had more conversations about agentic payments than just about any other topic. At conferences, on webinars, and in discussions with some of the smartest people in payments, compliance, and fraud, one thing has become clear to me: I think we're asking the wrong question.Most people want to know whether AI will start moving money.The question I keep coming back to is this: How do fraud teams investigate transactions when software starts making decisions?In this solo episode, I pull together insights from recent conversations with Matt Vega, Mary Ann Miller, and Matt Janiga to explore what agentic commerce really means for fraud investigations, SAR reporting, and the future of financial crime investigations. We talk about why traditional fraud models have always assumed a human initiated the payment, why that assumption no longer holds, and what investigators will need to understand when AI agents begin making decisions on behalf of customers.The technology may be changing, but the principles of good fraud prevention are not. Documentation, audit trails, authority management, explainability, and strong transaction monitoring will become even more important as agentic payments move from theory to reality.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why agentic payments are fundamentally different from traditional payment automation.How agentic commerce changes the way fraud teams investigate payment fraud.Why audit trails, attribution, and explainability will become essential during fraud investigations.How SAR reporting and AML investigations may evolve as AI becomes part of the payment decision process.Why regulators are focused on enabling innovation safely instead of slowing it down.The three questions every fraud investigator should begin asking today to prepare for the future.You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud prevention, AML compliance, investigations, or financial crime.File suspicious activity reports or conduct SAR reporting.Lead fraud operations, transaction monitoring, or payment investigations.Are evaluating how AI and agentic commerce will affect your institution.Want practical steps your team can begin implementing today instead of waiting for the rulebook to catch up.
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  Inside Deconflict: Bridging Law Enforcement and Banking 08.07.2026 40min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!In this episode, I’m sitting down with Mudassar Malik, Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and Founder and CEO of Deconflict.com, to talk about something our industry needs to get a whole lot better at: financial crime deconflict.Money mule networks do not care where one institution’s visibility ends and another one begins. Pig butchering scams, romance scams, business email compromise, BEC fraud, account takeover, wire fraud, they all move across people, accounts, institutions, platforms, and jurisdictions. Meanwhile, too many of us are still trying to solve pieces of the same case from opposite sides of the wall.Mudassar walks us through what happens when law enforcement and banking actually have a better way to connect investigative intelligence, share what they are seeing, and recognize when different teams may be looking at the same financial crime pattern from different angles.This episode is not about sharing everything with everybody. It is about better fraud response, better financial crime intelligence, and better collaboration between the people who are already fighting the same criminal networks. Because if a credit union, a community bank, a larger institution, and law enforcement are all seeing pieces of the same mule activity, but nobody can connect those pieces fast enough, the criminals keep moving. And the victims keep paying for it. What you’ll hear in this episode: Why financial crime deconflict matters for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and law enforcementHow the Deconflict platform helps connect investigative intelligence across financial crime casesWhy money mule networks, pig butchering scams, romance scams, and BEC fraud require cross-institutional visibilityWhere 314(b)d information sharing fits into the larger fraud response conversationWhy financial institution fraud prevention cannot stop at the edge of one institution’s dataHow law enforcement data sharing can help fraud fighters move from isolated cases to connected intelligenceWhat teams can take back to think differently about collaboration and case escalation You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud, BSA, AML, investigations, or financial crime intelligence at a bank or credit unionAre trying to improve financial institution fraud prevention without adding more disconnected alertsSupport fraud response for scams, mule activity, business email compromise, or suspicious account movementWant a better way to think about law enforcement data sharing and investigative collaboration
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  From Liability to Visibility: The Real Story Behind NACHA Phase 2 01.07.2026 13min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!Today we are talking about ACH compliance, and I know that may not sound like the most exciting opener in the world, but if you work in fraud, payments, operations, compliance, treasury, management, or anywhere near ACH this matters because ACH is one of the most widely used payment rails in the country. And when something goes wrong, it doesn’t just stay contained to one team. It impacts customers, creates operational strain, introduces regulatory risk, and can expose gaps in how your institution detects and responds to fraud.Over the last few months, I have had conversation after conversation with fraud leaders at community banks and credit unions who are asking the same questions. Do we need new technology? Are we expected to monitor every ACH transaction in real time? What exactly are examiners going to expect from us? And if your head has been spinning a little bit, I want you to hear me on this: you are not alone. This episode is about the real story behind NACHA Phase 2. And to me, the real story is not that every institution needs to run out and buy another fraud platform. The real story is that ACH compliance is becoming a much more intentional conversation. It is about knowing your risk, documenting your processes, understanding who owns what, and being able to explain why your institution monitors ACH fraud the way that it does.I actually think that is a good thing. Because for too long, our industry has leaned on liability as the finish line. If we are not liable, it is not really our problem. And technically, maybe sometimes that has been true. But operationally, ethically, and from a fraud fighter perspective, that has never sat well with me.Fraud does not live in silos. Neither should ACH fraud prevention.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why NACHA Phase 2 is about intentionality, not just technologyWhat changed in the final Nacha ACH rules and why that flexibility matters How ACH compliance applies to community banks and credit unions now in scopeWhy layered controls do not always mean buying another vendor solution How false pretenses fit into ACH fraud detection and ACH fraud prevention Why RDFI compliance and ODFI compliance require clear ownership across teamsWhat examiners may expect when reviewing your ACH compliance programFive questions every institution should ask about ACH fraud documentationYou should listen to this episode if:You work in fraud operations, payments compliance, ACH operations, BSA, AML, or treasury managementYour institution is working through NACHA Phase 2 implementationYou are trying to understand ACH examiner expectations without overbuilding your programYou serve a community bank or credit union and need practical ACH compliance guidanceYou want to move from a liability mindset to a visibility mindset in payments fraud If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and review the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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  The Hidden Infrastructure Behind Modern Money Movement 24.06.2026 1h 5min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward:Y’all, this episode is one of those conversations where I found myself taking notes while we were recording. Matt Janiga from Modern Treasury joined me to talk about hidden fraud infrastructure.We talk all the time about faster payments, one API, better vendor tooling, AI agents, global money movement, and payment modernization. But underneath all of that is a much more complicated reality. There are payment rails, reversibility rules, KYC requirements, digital fingerprints, transaction monitoring decisions, consortium data, fraud operations workflows, and infrastructure choices that determine what fraud teams can actually see and stop.And here is the thing: fraud does not live in silos, and neither does the infrastructure that moves money.Matt has worked across regulation, fintech infrastructure, compliance, payments, and risk, with experience touching Dodd-Frank, Square, Stripe, Lithic, and now Modern Treasury. So this conversation gives us a really practical look at how the industry moved from the pre-vendor world, where teams were basically building fraud and compliance tools from scratch, into a world where specialized partners, orchestration layers, and agentic AI are changing what fraud teams can do.For my credit union and community bank folks especially, this matters because you do not have to build everything alone anymore. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the more we understand the hidden fraud infrastructure behind modern payments, the better we can ask questions, pressure test controls, and protect the people we serve.What you’ll hear in this episode:How Dodd-Frank and post-crisis regulation helped shape the fintech ecosystem we know todayWhy banks stepping away from certain customer needs opened the door for fintech growthWhat the pre-vendor world looked like for fraud and compliance teams building tools from scratchWhy fraud vendor infrastructure, orchestration layers, and fraud consortium data changed the way teams manage riskWhat fraud teams miss when they hear “one API” and assume payment infrastructure is simpleHow payment rail reversibility, ACH fraud, Reg E fraud, and tokenized credentials create hidden operational riskWhy global USD accounts and global money movement require strong digital fingerprinting and risk-based controlsHow agentic AI fraud tools may reshape investigations, fraud operations, and human review over the next five yearsWhy the “front door” is one of the most important places to invest when building a fraud programYou should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud operations, payments, fintech, banking, risk, or complianceWant to better understand the hidden fraud infrastructure behind modern payments infrastructureAre evaluating fraud tooling, fraud vendor infrastructure, or payment orchestration partnersNeed a clearer view of payment rail reversibility, ACH reversibility, Reg E fraud, or global money movement riskAre thinking about agentic AI fraud, AI fraud agents, digital fingerprinting, and where humans should remain in the loop
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  The Most Underrated Law Enforcement Agency in Fintech 17.06.2026 38min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome to Fraud Forward.In this episode, I am sitting down with Eric Shen, inspector in charge of the criminal investigations group for the United States Postal Inspection Service, to talk about something I think way too many fraud teams overlook: USPIS financial crime.When financial crime escalates, most of us immediately think FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security, or local law enforcement. And listen, those partners matter. But the Postal Inspection Service is one of the most powerful investigative partners in financial crime investigations, especially when mail theft, check fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, money laundering, or organized fraud networks are part of the picture.This conversation is about more than stolen mail or missing packages. It is about how physical infrastructure still connects to modern financial institution fraud, how fraud teams can build stronger law enforcement partnerships, and why collaboration has to happen before the big case hits your desk.Because behind every fraud case is a real person. A member. A customer. A family. A business. Someone whose trust, dignity, and financial stability may have been shaken in a way they will never forget.And we, fraud fighters, have a responsibility to do something about that.What you’ll hear in this episode:A practical breakdown of how USPIS financial crime investigations workWhy the United States Postal Inspection Service matters to banks, credit unions, fintechs, and payments companiesHow mail theft connects to check fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, bank fraud, and money launderingWhy physical mail still matters, even in a digital fraud environmentHow organized fraud networks use stolen mail, altered checks, social media, and other channels to scale financial crimeWhat makes a strong fraud referral to law enforcementWhy relationship building matters before major fraud investigations happenHow IAFCI and other industry networks help financial crime investigators connect the dotsWhy criminals are using social media, Telegram, and other platforms to organize fraud activityHow AI and agentic AI are changing the future of financial crime investigationsWhy human oversight still matters when we use technology to fight fraudWho should listen:Fraud fighters at banks and credit unionsCommunity bank and credit union leadersBSA, AML, fraud, and compliance teamsFintech and payments risk teamsFinancial crime investigatorsFrontline teams who see suspicious activity before anyone else doesLaw enforcement partners working fraud investigations and financial crime casesRisk leaders trying to improve referral and escalation processesAnyone responsible for fraud prevention, investigation, intelligence sharing, or victim supportThis episode is for the teams who are trying to protect people in the middle of a fraud landscape that is moving fast.
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  AI, Payments & the Future of Fraud Operations — Live from Safeguard 10.06.2026 50min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome to Fraud Forward.I recorded this live from Safeguard’s AI Deep Dive Retreat at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and y’all, let me tell you something: this was not just another room full of AI buzzwords. This was fraud leaders, payment experts, financial institution professionals, fintech voices, marketplace operators, and risk leaders all sitting in the same place asking one very real question.What happens to fraud prevention when artificial intelligence changes everything?The future of AI fraud is not some far-off thing we are all fixin’ to deal with later. It is already here. We are seeing AI change the speed, scale, and complexity of fraud operations right now. We are seeing it show up in synthetic identity fraud, AI scams, AI identity verification, agentic AI fraud, fraud detection automation, governance conversations, and the pressure fraud teams are already carrying every single day.But this episode is not about panic.It is about realism.It is about what fraud fighters are seeing, what institutions are building, where the gaps still are, and how we keep humans at the center while fraud keeps accelerating around us.What you’ll hear in this episode:A practical conversation about the future of AI fraud and what it means for fraud operationsHow AI fraud prevention is changing across banking, credit unions, fintech, payments, marketplaces, and risk teamsWhy synthetic identity fraud, AI scams, and identity fraud prevention are becoming major areas of concernHow AI in fraud prevention can help investigators analyze data, identify patterns, and reduce noiseWhy AI governance in fraud prevention cannot be treated as something we clean up laterHow agentic AI fraud, know your agent, and KYA fraud prevention are becoming part of the next conversationWhy human-in-the-loop fraud detection still matters, even when fraud analyst AI tools are getting betterHow fraud fighters and AI can work together without replacing the people who know this work bestA reminder that responsible AI risk management has to include governance, empathy, collaboration, and practical controlsWho should listen:Financial institution leaders and fraud professionalsRisk, compliance, and cybersecurity teamsFraud operations teams and investigatorsCredit union and community bank leadersBanking fraud prevention teamsCredit union fraud prevention teamsFintech, payments, and marketplace risk teamsBSA, AML, KYC, and identity teamsRegulators and policy advisorsIndustry advocates and victim support professionalsMedia professionals covering scams, fraud, AI, and financial crimeAnyone trying to understand how AI-driven fraud affects real people, real institutions, and real fraud teamsThis conversation is for the fraud fighters who are not just trying to check a compliance box. It is for the teams trying to protect members, customers, and communities while also figuring out how to use AI-powered fraud prevention without creating new risk.
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  Accelerate What, Exactly? The Fraud Side of Fintech Innovation 03.06.2026 55min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!This conversation is one I think a lot of us need right now.Financial services are moving fast. Fintech innovations, AI in financial services, real-time payments, embedded finance, digital assets, and payment systems modernization are all changing how institutions serve members and customers.And let me just assure you, fraud fighters are not anti-innovation.We are not the department of no. We are the people who know what happens when fintech innovation moves faster than controls, when fintech compliance is treated like a checklist, and when fraud risk management gets discussed only after something has already gone wrong.In this episode, I sit down with Nyla Cortes to talk through what fintech innovations really mean for credit unions, community banks, fraud teams, BSA officers, compliance leaders, and frontline staff trying to protect people in real time.Because behind every fraud case is a customer. A member. A family. Someone whose trust, dignity, and financial stability may be permanently affected.That is why this conversation matters.What you’ll hear in this episode:A practical look at how fintech innovations are changing fraud risk inside financial institutionsWhy modernization creates opportunity, but also expands the attack surfaceWhat AI governance in financial services needs to look like before something goes wrongHow AI in financial services can support fraud prevention strategies when governance is built inWhy real-time payments require real-time fraud operationsHow fintech partnerships and third-party risk management can introduce hidden exposureWhy fintech risk management has to include fraud, compliance, BSA, AML, operations, and frontline teamsWhat community bank fintech adoption looks like when resources are already stretchedWhy operational readiness matters before losses show up on a reportHow we can support fintech fraud prevention without forgetting the people impacted by crimeThis is not a political conversation. It is not a vendor pitch. It is a practical, honest conversation about what it takes to modernize responsibly.Who should listen:This episode is for the fraud fighters doing the work every day.Fraud directors and fraud analystsBSA and AML officersRisk and compliance leadersCommunity bank and credit union teamsFrontline tellers and member service representativesVendor risk and fintech partnership teamsCybersecurity and payments professionalsRegulators and policy advisorsAnyone trying to balance fintech innovation, fraud prevention strategies, consumer protection, and operational realityIf you are sitting inside a smaller institution thinking, “Holy moly, we are being asked to move faster, but we do not have the same resources as the big banks,” I want you to hear me.You are not behind because you are doing something wrong. You are operating in an environment where fintech innovations are accelerating faster than the resources available to manage the risk.And that means we have to get very intentional.Show Notes:https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/integrating-financial-technology-innovation-into-regulatory-frameworks/https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-integrates-financial-technology-innovation-into-regulatory-frameworks/https://www.sardine.ai/whitepapers/the-agentic-ai-oversight-framework
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  Fraud as Infrastructure 27.05.2026 13min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!I want to take a moment and talk about something bigger than one scam trend, one crypto headline, or one fraud typology. We are talking about fraud as infrastructure.Because what we are seeing right now is not isolated activity. Organized fraud networks are operating like coordinated systems, connecting pig butchering scams, social engineering scams, mule accounts, crypto money laundering, fraud and AML gaps, and national security and financial crime concerns.And y’all, this matters because behind every case is a real person. Someone’s retirement. Someone’s trust. Someone’s financial stability. Someone who was manipulated by a criminal network long before the money ever moved.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why fraud as infrastructure changes how we need to think about financial crimeHow organized fraud networks are using scam infrastructure, mule accounts, and crypto money launderingWhy pig butchering scams and social engineering scams are not simple one-off casesWhere financial institutions are making progress in fraud prevention and scam preventionWhy fraud investigations need stronger collaboration across fraud, AML, cybercrime, and law enforcementHow public-private partnerships can help close the gaps criminals are exploitingWhat fraud fighters can take back to their teams as organized fraud becomes more connectedWho should listen:Financial institution leaders and fraud professionalsRisk, compliance, fraud and AML, and cybersecurity teamsBSA officers and fraud investigatorsRegulators and policy advisorsPublic-private partnership leadersVictim support and advocacy professionalsAnyone trying to understand how organized fraud impacts real peopleFraud does not live in silos, and neither should our solutions.
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  Payment Fraud Prevention and the Future of Trust 21.05.2026 54min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!I wanted to do something different for our 100th episode. I didn’t want a victory lap. I wanted an honest conversation about payment fraud prevention, where our systems feel fragile, and whether we are building financial infrastructure worthy of public trust.I brought together Karisse Hendrick, Becky Reed, David Maimon, and Jeff Taylor to talk about what fraud fighters are seeing across banking, payments, e-commerce, digital assets, and fraud research. Fraud is moving fast. Payments are moving faster. AI fraud detection and AI fraud prevention are becoming more important every day. Institutions are trying to balance innovation, regulation, speed, and protection all at once.This conversation is not just about payment fraud detection or payment risk management. Behind every account takeover fraud event, business email compromise attack, wire fraud case, ACH fraud prevention gap, or social engineering fraud scheme is a real person, a real business, and a real loss of trust.What you’ll hear in this episode:How faster payments are changing real-time payment fraud preventionWhy payment fraud detection must move beyond isolated incidentsHow AI fraud prevention, AI fraud detection, behavioral biometrics, and device intelligence are changing fraud strategyWhy business email compromise, check fraud, wire fraud prevention, ACH fraud prevention, and account takeover fraud remain major concernsHow digital payment fraud is evolving across banks, merchants, marketplaces, and digital asset railsWhy social engineering fraud continues to exploit trust, emotion, and human behaviorWhat collaboration, fraud education, and payment risk management need to look like moving forwardWho should listen:Fraud fighters across banking, fintech, payments, and e-commerceFinancial institution leaders and fraud professionalsRisk, compliance, cybersecurity, and payment operations teamsTeams focused on real-time payment fraud preventionProfessionals working on ACH fraud prevention, wire fraud prevention, and account takeover fraudLeaders evaluating AI fraud prevention, behavioral biometrics, device intelligence, and fraud orchestrationAnyone who cares about protecting trust in financial services
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  Future of Fraud Operations: We Can’t Fight This Alone 13.05.2026 37min

  What’s up, fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!In part one, you heard fraud fighters describe the current state of fraud with words like acceleration, chaos, fractured, and explosive. And honestly, none of those felt exaggerated. But in this episode, I wanted to ask a different question. Not just what fraud feels like right now, but what teams are doing that they are actually proud of.And that is where the conversation shifted.Instead of only hearing about pressure and burnout, I started hearing about collaboration, communication, empathy, innovation, and people who are trying to figure this out together in real time. That is what stood out to me most at Fraud Fight Club this year. Not just the tools. Not just the AI in fraud prevention conversations. Not even just the tactics. The people.This episode is really about the future of fraud operations. And if there is one thing that came through loud and clear, it is this: we cannot fight this alone anymore.What you’ll hear in this episode:Why fraud prevention in banking is becoming more collaborativeHow fraud and AML collaboration is helping teams see more of the full pictureWhy 314(b) information sharing matters in today’s fraud environmentHow fraud prevention strategy is shifting from reactive detection to proactive preventionWhy human-centered fraud prevention and empathy in fraud investigations still matterHow fraud prevention technology and fraud analytics are changing the way teams workWhat fraud prevention professionals are doing right now to build stronger networksYou should listen to this episode if:You work in banking fraud detection or fraud risk managementYou are trying to improve fraud decisioning inside your institutionYou care about real-time fraud prevention and operational responseYou want to understand where credit union fraud prevention is headingYou believe collaboration is no longer optional in fraud operationsIf you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and review the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps with getting the word out.
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  The State of Fraud in One Word 06.05.2026 10min

  What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!I asked a room full of fraud professionals one question: describe the current state of fraud in one word.And the answers? Acceleration. Chaos. Explosive. Scary. Unmanageable.No one said stable. No one said under control.So in this episode, I’m breaking down what those answers tell us about evolving fraud trends, the current fraud landscape, and the pressure fraud teams are feeling across banking, financial services, and every channel where fraud is moving faster than our systems were built to handle.This isn’t just about the latest fraud trends. This is about fraud attack evolution, AI-driven fraud attacks, organized fraud trends, and the operational reality of trying to protect real people in real time.What you will hear in this episode:A structured breakdown of evolving fraud trends from fraud professionals on the front linesA look at the latest fraud trends shaping banking, payments, and financial servicesInsight into how AI-driven fraud attacks and automation are accelerating scam operationsDiscussion of cross-channel fraud trends, from impersonation scams to social engineering fraud trendsA focused look at fraud operations trends and why teams feel more reactive than proactivePractical fraud prevention strategy insights for adapting to faster, more coordinated attacksA call for stronger collaboration, benchmarking, and shared intelligence across the fraud ecosystemThis is one of those episodes where we move from what fraud feels like to what we actually need to do about it.Who should listen:Financial institution leaders and fraud professionalsRisk, compliance, and cybersecurity teamsFraud operations, payments, and product leadersBanking and credit union teams tracking fraud trends in financial servicesIndustry advocates and fraud community membersAnyone trying to understand modern fraud trends and how fast they are changingIf you’re in this space and you’ve felt that pressure, this episode is for you. Because we’re all dealing with it.Links:FI Benchmarking Survey Link: https://form.typeform.com/to/WqJf9uqb