Banking on Fraudology The Fraud Stories That Defined 2025 — And the Payment Shifts That Will Define 2026
In this episode of Banking on Fraudology, Hailey Windham reflects on a transformational year in fraud by unpacking recent, high-stakes cases and zooming out to address the "seismic shift" in the payment ecosystem.
The conversation dives into the industry's evolution , highlighting how human intuition, technology, and a unified view of risk are shaping the future of fraud prevention.
Key Takeaways: Cases, Controls, and the Future of Payments
Empathy and Human Intuition are Essential: The episode shares several cases that underscore the power of the human element.
- The Mrs. Doubtfire Scam: A bizarre case where a man disguised himself as his deceased 82-year-old mother to collect her pension for three years. The case was cracked by a frontline clerk who noticed the hands looked too young and the voice slipped, proving that intuition is irreplaceable.
- The Frontline Hero: A Missouri bank teller saved a woman from a jury duty arrest scam by quietly slipping her a note, proving that no AI system can replace human compassion and intuition.
The End of Siloed Intelligence (Internal Threat): Insider threats highlight a control problem, not just an employee problem.
- Cases involving unauthorized withdrawals, debit card ordering, and forged checks by multiple employees at a major US bank point to patterns of inadequate monitoring and excessive permissions.
- The Tacoma Credit Union case, where a remote employee stole $345,000 weeks after hire, reinforces that remote work requires stronger oversight, and new hires are high-risk periods.
Innovation is Working For Us (External Threats): Scams are evolving alongside technology.
- Scammers are using real bank activity (transaction amounts and timestamps) to build trust and bypass knowledge-based authentication.
- New tactics include fake CAPTCHAs that install malware to bypass 2FA, log keystrokes, and spy on sessions, leading to rapidly climbing losses.
The State of the Fraud Fighter (Payment Rail Shift): The industry must adapt to the speed of instant payments.
- Scams are the #1 driver of losses across every rail (ACH, Wires, P2P, Zelle, RTP, FedNow); the vulnerability is social engineering, not the rail itself.
- The number one strategic imperative is to build a unified, real-time view of risk across every payment rail, as regulators now demand real-time resilience and proof that harm could have been prevented.
Get in the mood of being grateful for the fraud-fighting community, and be reminded of how strong the fraud-fighting community truly is.
Show Notes — Resources & Articles Mentioned
Insider Fraud Cases
1 - Multiple Trust Employees Accused of Draining Customer Accounts — $363,452 in Losses
2 - The “Mrs. Doubtfire” Fraud Case (Italian Identity Fraud Scandal) - Source via Frank on Fraud (PDF)
3 - Tacoma Credit Union Insider Steals $345,014
Scams, ATO, and External Fraud Trends
Scammers Reciting Real Bank Activity to Gain Trust — FBI Warning
5 - Bank Teller Saves Customer from Jury-Duty Arrest Scam
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/