12/18/2024

A Multi-layered Approach to Combatting Payments Fraud

AFP

When it comes to safeguarding your financial operations, no one is immune to fraudsters. Their methods are constantly evolving in sophistication, presenting us all with new challenges.

During an AFP webinar, industry experts discussed how things have changed since results from the 2024 AFP Payment Fraud and Control Survey, underwritten by Truist, were reported. There are new fraud trends, as well as methods organizations are taking to combat them.

Shifts in fraud trends

Referring to the 2024 AFP Payment Fraud and Control Survey, Tom Hunt, CTP, Director, Treasury Services and Payments for AFP, said, “One of the trends we saw this year was a shift in BEC fraud; it’s moving away from wires and towards ACH credits.”

Vigilance with a healthy dose of skepticism is required to combat fraud, advised Chris Ward, Head of Enterprise Payments at Truist. “If somebody is raising a red flag, you should assume that's correct and try to prove that it isn't fraud,” he said. “I've had case after case recently where clients saw the signs but didn't stop. If it's too good to be true, it's probably a scam. There are all kinds of things going on in every single one of these fraud categories, and they're getting better and better at spoofing.”