Big problems require big ideas. How about establishing a White House office of fraud and scam prevention? Or closing loopholes so telecoms stop spoof calls and texts? And ensuring social media companies quickly take down impersonation accounts? On this edition of the ABA Fraudcast, we include Paul Benda's opening statement addressing these challenges and others as delivered recently to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as well as his analysis of the urgency of a coordinated response from lawmakers and law enforcement.

Read Paul Benda's full opening statement and check out video here.

Also mentioned: Benda will be speaking at the  ABA Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference, Oct. 14-16 in Arlington, Virginia. And ABA is launching updated Banks Never Ask That and Practice Safe Checks consumer awareness campaigns.

On this episode of the ABA Fraudcast, we dive into how the Internet works — and why it’s so easy for criminals to create fake bank websites. We’ll explore how these sites get taken down and what banks can do to combat this growing threat. Our guest, Craig Schwartz of fTLD Registry Services, breaks down the key differences between traditional .com domains and the more secure .bank domain — a top-level domain created by a consortium led by the American Bankers Association and other partners specifically to reduce fraud. Schwartz explains the rigorous security measures behind .bank, including a comprehensive vetting process that keeps bad actors out and ongoing verification to maintain trust. Want to learn more about the benefits of .bank? Visit aba.com/dotbank.

As elder fraud skyrockets, banks are actively seeking the best strategies to protect their customers, including proper use of “hold” laws to delay transactions in suspected cases of exploitation. In this episode of the ABA Fraudcast, ABA’s Paul Benda addresses these important issues with guests Barb Graziano, VP, internal audit, compliance and BSA officer for First Seacoast Bank in New Hampshire, and Sam Kunjukunju, VP consumer education and community engagement, who discusses ABA’s State Hold Laws and Elder Financial Exploitation Survey Report, which has valuable information for banks.

One of the major efforts from the very busy team at the ABA Foundation these days is helping bankers help older Americans protect themselves from scams. The Foundation's Safe Banking for Seniors program focuses on a number of ways seniors can avoid financial danger. "We provide free, turnkey programs and materials to help bankers lead personal finance presentations with kids, young adults and seniors in their communities," explains Sam Kunjukunju, ABA's VP for consumer education, in this episode of the ABA Fraudcast. "Unfortunately the criminals are definitely targeting Americans of all ages, and it's very challenging when we look at the older American population."

ABA's new online platform to provide members with free access to the Treasury Check Verification System is now live. On a special joint episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast and ABA Fraudcast, ABA anti-fraud experts Paul Benda and Hannah Ibberson discuss the platform and how banks can put it to use. Among other topics, Benda and Ibberson discuss: the scale of physical U.S. Treasury checks and why they remained a potential vector for fraud; how and why ABA developed the platform; how ABA member bank employees -- including frontline staff -- can access the portal to verify a payee; and ways this new platform fits into ABA's overall anti-fraud initiatives.

Recent data on scams and fraud from the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI is, to no surprise, trending in the wrong direction. But there is confusion around such national reporting, and that is part of the problem. "There is no central figure leading this fight," says ABA's Paul Benda, who describes important challenges to addressing scams and fraud on a national scale on this week's edition of the ABA Fraudcast.

ABA offers resources to help banks prevent, identify, measure and report fraud, and to serve and protect consumers and their financial data.​

What does fighting check fraud cost banks? How do banks find success in that struggle? In the latest episode of the ABA Fraudcast, ABA’s Paul Benda continues to explore the challenges of a metastasizing problem for banks, with his guest Sam Drennen, EVP and COO of First American Bank and Trust in Georgia. Drennen discusses ways his bank has learned hard lessons defending against criminals focused on a payment mode that has resisted extermination. The  ABA Fraudcast will be published every three weeks on this site, in ABA Daily Newsbytes and wherever you listen to and subscribe to your favorite podcasts. Check out important ABA resources on this topic for banks at aba.com/checkfraud. The recently remodeled ABA Communities provide opportunities to share insights and resources with fellow bankers. 

The big story of check fraud is not only its vast cost to the country and to individual victims, but simply the remarkable rate at which it is increasing. On this episode of the ABA Fraudcast, ABA's Paul Benda discusses with Caitlin Piasecki of the United States Postal Inspection Service the enormous scale and challenge of addressing mail theft, a common venue for criminals to get their hands on paper checks. The ABA Fraudcast will be published every two weeks, on this site, in ABA Daily Newsbytes and wherever you listen to and subscribe to your favorite podcasts.

In a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing from a distant dream technology to an accessible tool of working and consumer life, criminals have certainly noticed. On this episode of the ABA Fraudcast, test your discerning skills at identifying who is real and who is AI. Impersonating the voices of even familiar people to us is rapidly becoming a new type of threat that will be difficult to stop. 

Community banks can be targets of large-scale fraud, just like larger banks. On the inaugural episode of the ABA Fraudcast, former ABA Chair Dan Robb, president and CEO of Jonesburg State Bank in Missouri, describes the recent targeting of his bank by fraudsters who texted thousands of residents of his community, seeking access to customer accounts. What followed for Robb and his team were fast lessons on all the areas his bank was prepared for, and a few challenges that were surprising. “We are no longer dealing with a mom-and-pop criminal,” says ABA’s Paul Benda, Fraudcast host. “This is institutional crime.”

The brand new ABA Fraudcast will be published every two weeks, on this site, in ABA Daily Newsbytes and wherever you listen to and subscribe to your favorite podcasts.