Financial Crime & Fraud


Oracle’s Micros POS network hacked

Oracle’s global network of 330,000 point-of-sale (POS) payment systems has been hacked by a Russian organised cybercrime group. The breach occurred on the network run by Micros Systems, which Oracle bought in 2014. The incident was first picked up by computer security expert Brian Krebs, who contacted Oracle for comment. The firm acknowledged it has […]

Thieves steal $72m from Hong Kong Bitcoin exchange

It’s all gone wrong in Hong Kong as about $72 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from the Bitfinex exchange platform. Nearly 120,000 units have been pilfered making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange. Bitfinex is one of the largest exchanges for Bitcoin, and according to Reuters is known in the […]

Interview: Rivi Varghese, CEO of CustomerXPs Software

Banking is going digital and instantaneous, which is great news for customers. But it is also a great headache for banks, as fraud is going that way too – the money can disappear into fraudsters’ virtual pockets with a blink of an eye, anytime, anywhere. At the same time, the real-time capabilities of new solutions […]

HSBC dodges US money laundering charges

HSBC has escaped charges of money laundering by US officials due to fears by the Department of Justice (DOJ) it might create a “global financial disaster”. A US Congressional report shows that UK officials, including Chancellor George Osborne, used their clout to warn the US it could lead to market unrest. According to the BBC, […]

Three ex-Barclays staff convicted in Libor rigging trial

Three ex-Barclays workers have been found guilty of manipulating the Libor interest rate between 2005 and 2007. Jay Merchant was convicted unanimously at Southwark Crown Court in London of rigging the key financial rate. Jonathan Mathew and Alex Pabon were found guilty by majority verdict after a ten-week trial. They will be sentenced on Thursday […]

Top fintech stories this week – 1 July 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Brexit threat to UK jobs at Visa Should I stay or should I go? Swift hackers steal $10m from Ukraine bank Massive attack. New challenger bank readies for launch in UK Atten-shun! UK military personnel, veterans and their […]

Hackers use access to Swift network to steal $10m from Ukraine bank

Hackers have used the Swift network to steal $10 million from an unnamed Ukrainian bank, according to an independent IT monitoring organisation that spoke to the Kyiv Post. This latest incident is part of a spate of thefts when the banks’ access to the Swift network was used to execute them. Recently, investigators said they […]

Japan raises security after ¥1.8bn taken from ATMs

Japan’s Seven Bank has improved security for ATM withdrawals following Japanese banks losing JPY 1.8 billion ($16.8 million) through fake overseas cards. Banks across the island nation are rushing to deal with the fraud, and Seven Bank which operates ATMs in the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has cut its withdrawal limit to JPY 50,000 ($468) […]

Swift hacks lead to Philippine central bank cyber security boost

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippine central bank, is strengthening its cyber security surveillance in light of the recent Swift hacking saga. Nestor Espenilla, the central bank deputy governor in charge of banking supervision, says it wants to reinforce its defences and is also considering regulating Bitcoin firms due to money laundering issues. This development […]

No room for the weak says Swift CEO

You are the weakest link. Goodbye. Banks with inadequate cyber defences could find themselves booted off Swift’s payment network, warns Swift CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt. The threat from Leibbrandt follows a spate of hacks. Investigators are looking at more potential computer breaches following three attacks – a $101 million cyber heist in Bangladesh – the biggest […]

Experian unveils CrossCore platform for fraud and identity services

Experian, the information services company, has launched its CrossCore platform for fraud and identity services. CrossCore has “plug-and-play” capability and lets companies connect any new or existing tools and systems in one place, whether they are Experian, internal or third-party partner solutions. Steve Platt, global EVP, fraud and identity, Experian, says: “New fraud threats, updates […]

Top fintech stories this week – 27 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Swift hacks sees 12 more banks under attack A fast moving chain of events. High five for Apple Pay in Singapore Big banks onboard include OCBC and Standard Chartered. NYSE launches new trading tech platform, NYSE Pillar The […]

Swift hacks sees 12 more banks under attack

Investigators are looking at more potential computer breaches following the three hacking incidents on Swift’s payment network, according to Bloomberg. The three attacks comprised a $101 million cyber heist in Bangladesh – the biggest cyber heist in history; Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stopping an attempted wire fraud; and Ecuador’s Banco del Austro losing around $9 […]

Swift strikes back over three hack attacks

Swift has unveiled a five-part plan to reinforce security across its network after three hacking incidents. The attacks comprised a $101 million cyber heist in Bangladesh; Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stopping an attempted wire fraud; and Ecuador’s Banco del Austro losing around $9 million. At the 14th annual European Financial Services Conference in Brussels, Swift […]

Third time unlucky for Swift as Ecuador bank hacked

Ecuadorian bank Banco del Austro has become the third victim of hacking through the Swift system, with cybercriminals stealing around $9 million. This latest revelation follows a $101 million cyber heist in Bangladesh; and Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank (TPBank) stopping an attempted wire fraud involving the use of “fraudulent” Swift messages. The Ecuador attack has […]

Top fintech stories this week – 20 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Android Pay now in the UK; Australia and Singapore are next Coming to a country near you… possibly. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stops attempted fraud through Swift system Stop! In the name of the law. Sydney Stock Exchange […]

NICE’s robotic automation solution gets the Italian jobs

Italy’s Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Helpline have implemented NICE’s Robotic Automation solutions for loan approvals and credit card fraud prevention. Banca Popolare di Sondrio, which has 350 branches across the country, decided to implement NICE Robotics to speed up its online loan and credit approvals process. As a result, NICE says average handle time […]

Vietnam’s TienPhongBank stops attempted fraud through Swift system

Vietnam’s TienPhongBank (TPBank) says it has stopped an attempted wire fraud that involved the use of “fraudulent” Swift messages. The bank said in a statement late on Sunday (15 May), in response to inquiries from Reuters, that in Q4 2015 it “identified suspicious requests through fraudulent” Swift messages to transfer more than €1 million in […]

Swift warns of second new malware threat

Swift has warned its customers about a newly identified malware found at a “commercial bank”, which it has declined to identify. This latest development follows yesterday’s (12 May) news where Swift rejected the allegations made by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials about the first cyber fraud scandal in February. Details […]

Swift quick to dismiss Bangladesh’s allegations over cyber fraud scandal

Swift has rejected the allegations made by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials to Reuters about the cyber fraud scandal in February. A few months ago, hackers stole more than $100 million from the country’s foreign currency reserves. In the ensuing furore, the head of Bangladesh’s central bank, Atiur Rahman, resigned; […]

Capgemini joins forces with FICO for risk and fraud services

FICO, an analytics and decision management software provider, and tech consultancy firm Capgemini have teamed up to provide analytic solutions in financial services. The alliance will provide FICO’s risk and fraud management products through Capgemini’s consulting and integration services in North America. Anirban Bose, global head of banking and financial services, Capgemini, says “many of […]

NICE Actimize launches AML Essentials for mid-sized FIs

NICE Actimize hopes to muscle into the mid-tier banking sector with the launch of AML Essentials, an anti-money laundering cloud-based platform. It will be delivered on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. The solution offers transaction monitoring, CDD (customer due diligence) and KYC (know your customer), and watch list filtering to reporting and SAR (suspicious […]

Money 20/20 Europe: Collaborate not compete to defeat card fraud

Payment companies need to collaborate, not compete, when it comes to dealing with the threat of card fraud. At this morning’s (5 April) session, “Innovations in card not present fraud” at Money 20/20 in Copenhagen, a panel discussed the issue in a lively and quick chat. Present were moderator Andrew Jamieson, head of innovations, UL; […]

Typo spells confusion in $101m cyber bank heist

A $101 million cyber heist has central bank officials from Bangladesh to New York quarrelling over what may be one of the biggest and boldest bank raids in history, according to CNBC. Hackers allegedly breached the Bangladesh central bank’s security system and then pretended to be Bangladeshi officials to send a series of requests for […]

Equiniti acquires Risk Factor and KYCnet

Equiniti Group has completed the purchase of Risk Factor and KYCnet. The acquisitions are part of Equiniti’s strategy of buying specialist technology platforms to provide regulation driven services for its clients. Last year it bought Transglobal Payment Solutions, while back in 2012 it acquired investment system supplier Peterevans. It also purchased a UK-based lending software […]

A whistle-stop tour of the regulatory calendar

As financial institutions across the board gear up for 2016, the year ahead poses some notably regulatory challenges. Not least among these is the impending Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) from the European Commission; there will also be further progress on MiFID II. On 3 July this year, an event will take place which will mark […]

Chainalysis inks deal with Europol and raises $1.6m seed round

Chainalysis, a New York-based cyber security start-up, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) on collaborating to fight online crime. Chainalysis aims to change “negative headlines where digital currencies have been connected to fraud and cybercrime” and is tracking digital identities on the blockchain. The start-up says its software […]

MasterCard targets rising number of false declines

MasterCard has unveiled its MasterCard IQ series that uses real-time intelligence to tackle fraud and the increasing number of false declines. The plan is for cardholders and merchants to see a reduced number of transactions unnecessarily declined, while maintaining the “highest levels” of security. Javelin Strategy & Research estimates that one out of every six […]

EC to hit terrorism in its digital wallet

The European Commission (EC) has presented an action plan to fight the financing of terrorism, including targeted amendments to the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) that was implemented in May 2015. These include an amendment to include a list of all compulsory checks financial institutions should carry out on financial flows from countries having strategic […]

Keeping file-based threats out of bank vaults

While mention of bank robberies will often conjure images of masked criminals and high-speed car chases, most modern instances of the crime are being conducted from behind computer screens. In addition to the lure of stealing cash, these criminals are going after banks for valuables such as the personal data of customers, details of mergers and acquisitions between companies and the private tax information of corporations, data is fast becoming an incredibly valuable commodity in its own right

One in five UK bank accounts hit by cybercrime

One in five UK consumers (21%) have had personal details stolen and their bank accounts used to buy goods and services as a result of a cyber security breach, according to new research from business advisory firm Deloitte.

Correspondent banking faces ‘existential crisis’ warns PwC

De-risking, motivated by short-term risk-reward calculations, should not be allowed to kill off one of the cornerstones of the global financial system. Rather than abandon correspondent banking relationships, banks should be thinking about investing in and automating their risk controls, according to a new whitepaper by PwC.

Lack of data in securities messages creates compliance issues

A lack of information in securities messages creates problems for financial institutions screening them for regulatory compliance. But if the audience in a session yesterday is representative, only around half of them are screening anyway.

The emerging threat of trade-based money laundering in trade finance

Money laundering is a global phenomenon, evident in many parts of the world. Techniques have ranged from simple bulk cash movements across borders to more sophisticated techniques hidden in trade transactions. As trade between the Middle East and the rest of the world continues to grow, the threat of trade based money laundering becomes more […]

Insurance and education should be weapons in fight against cyber-crime

The majority of businesses do not have cyber security insurance, with many not even aware such protection exists – and even those that do have insurance in place may find themselves at a loss if they don’t have the correct cover. The solution may be to mandate more data sharing and raise public awareness, according to speakers at a roundtable organised by software security company Kaspersky Lab.

Cyber attacks on the rise warns Gemalto

Data breaches are getting worse with 246 million records compromised by criminal activity in the first six months of 2015, according to new figures published by digital security company Gemalto. The numbers suggest cyber-crime will remain a top priority for banks for the foreseeable future.

ISSA sets out financial crime principles for securities

The International Securities Services Association adopted a set of compliance principles to address the “critical challenges” posed by financial crime. The new principles aim to establish “a clear global standard for the opening and maintenance of cross-border securities accounts”.

Android users most at risk of fraud warns survey

The rate of mobile fraud is highest on Android devices, according to new data from cyber security company Kount, with mobile fraud also outpacing that of online and in-store fraud for the first time this year. The data also shows that average transaction amounts on iOS mobile devices are greater than those made from Android devices.

Caught on the defensive: why the financial sector needs to reevaluate its approach to cyber risk

Contrary to popular belief, the financial sector is now far more aware and better prepared for cyber attacks. The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report, issued 1 July, states that threat awareness has grown exponentially and the sector is leading efforts to combat cybercrime. Perhaps this isn’t surprising given 90% of large businesses across the sector had suffered a malicious attack over the past year. But what is worrying is that the financial sector is falling into a familiar trap: by focusing so much on defence, it has failed to make provisions for an effective recovery