Bonus Episode — Powered by Safeguard: Why Now Is the Best Time to Fight Fraud (w/ Andrea Valentin)

In this powerful bonus episode of Banking on Fraudology, powered by Safeguard, Hailey Windham sits down with Andrea Vallentine, Senior Vice President of Fraud and Risk at Old Glory Bank.  

 The conversation dives deep into Andrea's genuinely excited perspective that "this might actually be the best time to be fighting fraud". We explore the rising momentum of collaboration and shared learning that is unifying the industry against fraudsters.  

Key Takeaways: Collaboration, AI, and Empathy in Fraud Prevention

• The Power of Collaboration: Andrea highlights the exciting activities and investments from groups like Fraud Fight Club, Operation Shamrock, and House of Fraud.  The focus is shifting from selling products to learning, educating, and collaborating. 

• The AI Perspective: The industry is moving past fear, recognizing that AI has been around for a long time. The recent AI explosion has gotten people more open to listening, realizing they are already using smart technologies in areas like transaction scoring (e.g., Falcon) and link analysis.  

• A Shift to Purpose: Collaboration is increasing because the industry now recognizes the emotional devastation and human impact of fraud.  The focus has moved beyond competing to a shared mission of working together "against the fraudsters".  

• Tips for Smaller Teams (Leveraging AI): Andrea recommends that smaller teams use AI (like ChatGPT) to draft summaries, create templates, and refine procedures.  This allows teams to find holes in their processes and generate new ideas without using sensitive PII.  

• The Human Side of Design: Empathy is shaping the next generation of fraud design. Using machine learning to identify patterns of customer friction  , and giving real-life stories to team members, helps move them out of "robot mode" and focus on the customer experience.  

• Andrea's Final Thought: AI is not scary, and we have been using it forever in things like marketing suggestions on Amazon. She encourages everyone to get involved and leverage the wealth of existing, shared resources instead of recreating materials.  

This is a must-listen for executives, investigators, and all fraud professionals who are serious about strengthening prevention efforts and building a fraud-fighting community driven by empathy and innovation.  

Links:

• Connect to Andrea on LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Safeguard AI deep dive retreat happening in May  : SafeguardEvent.com

About Hailey Windham:

As a 2023 CU Rockstar Recipient, Hailey Windham, CFCS (Certified Financial Crimes Specialist) demonstrated unbounding passion for educating her community, organization and credit union membership on scams in the market and best practices to avoid them. She has implemented several programs within her previous organizations that aim at holistically learning about how to prevent and detect fraud targeted at membership and employees.

Windham’s initiatives to build strong relationships and partnerships throughout the credit union community and industry experts have led to countless success stories. Her applied knowledge of payments system programs combined with her experience in fraud investigations offers practical concepts that are transferable, no matter the organization’s size.

Connect with Hailey on LinkedIn