Banking on Fraudology Building a Unified Front Against Human Crime: The Knoble’s Mission, Momentum & Moment of Need
In this special episode of Banking on Fraudology, Hailey Windham welcomes back Ian Mitchell, founder of The Knoble, to delve into the organization's critical mission, its global impact, and the urgent need for community support.
The conversation centers on the concept of "human crimes" , a focus area for The Knoble which includes human trafficking, child exploitation (especially online exploitation of children), scams, and elder financial exploitation. Ian emphasizes that banks are in a powerful position to detect and disrupt these financially motivated crimes proactively.
Key Takeaways: Mission, Impact, and Urgency
- The Knoble's Network & Tools: The Knoble is a 501c3 nonprofit that serves as a community of nearly 3,000 financial professionals dedicated to fighting financial crime with heart. The network has collaboratively developed tactical tools, including a business case sheet for justifying scams programs , a post-scam victimization guide , and a SAR addendum/template that attaches data fields to SAR filings to help law enforcement modernize their approach to analytics.
- Human Crime Specialist Program: Ian introduces the six-month Human Crime Specialist (HCS) Program , an intensive training course designed to equip financial professionals across all organizational levels (with 5+ years experience preferred) to fight all human crimes, covering everything from prevention and detection to policy and victim response.
- Global Impact: The Knoble's commitment to coordinated industry action has earned them an invitation to the United Nations to help strengthen the worldwide response to human trafficking.
- Critical Funding Shortfall: Ian transparently addresses the urgent funding moment facing The Knoble. He appeals to the community for support to ensure their work—which is critical to human safety and disrupting organized crime—can continue.
- The Call to Action: Ian's message to fraud fighters and leaders is to "live with heart" and to remember that they are in the people business. He encourages listeners to get involved in The Knoble's free network and consider sending a team member to the HCS Program.
The Knoble Human Crime Specialist Program
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: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hailey-windham/