There is expected to be a greater take up of electronic identity
verification across Europe in 2012, Tony Connell, head of identity
and fraud at Experian – data and decision support specialist – told
RBI at Experian’s 11th International Credit Risk Forum
2011 in Berlin, held on 24 November.

UK and Germany are hosting the highest
proportion of phishing outside of the US, followed by Italy, said
Connell, adding that “this is happening on an increasingly global
basis”.

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According to Connell, the cross-border nature
of fraud has made banks more aware and vigilant of identity threats
in 2011.

Connell said fraudsters have become more
“sophisticated and coordinated”, and are “much more commercial than
you think”.

Connell also highlighted the tendency for
agents of fraud to outsource parts of their fraud activities to
experts around the world.

“We are aware that many are sourcing high-end
malware and other tools from competing criminal organisations that
can be deployed to source information,” said Connell.

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There has been significant exploitation of
gloablisation as well as the web for fraudsters to target important
data in 2011, said Connell.

Nature of fraud, though, is market specific
and in markets where central controls and checks are not strictly
in place, cases of fraud are naturally higher, and it “changes a
lot depending on the economic conditions”, said Connell.

Lenders need to be more conscious of who they
are hiring as well as how much authentic information they are
getting from customers at the time of registration.

Banks also need to have advanced IT and
analytics systems intact for maximum data protection and
optimisation, said Connell, though there has already been “wider
take up of digital capabilities of identity”.

Connell added that though identity and soft
fraud threats are likely to keep growing in 2012, more legislative
measures – in terms of independent bodies such as BSS issuing new
regulatory frameworks – are expected to rise.