National & Global Fraud Intelligence – 4th EAST Global Congress
The 4th EAST Global Congress took place on Wednesday 7th June 2023 at Europol in The Hague as a hybrid meeting, with some delegates participating online. The event was also a key milestone for EAST, marking the 60th meeting of EAST National Members.
The meeting was hosted by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and was chaired by Graham Mott from the LINK Scheme. The key focus was on the sharing of payment and terminal fraud intelligence (global, regional, national).
Law enforcement overviews were provided by EC3 and the United States Secret Service. Private sector fraud intelligence updates were received from 27 countries, either directly or via regional/global updates by BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Worldline. Regional Updates were also provided for ASP and MENA. Each update covered Fraud Types, Fraud Origin, Due Diligence and Physical Attacks (ATM, ATS and CIT).
Social engineering of victims by organised criminals is a major concern across all the countries and it was noted that Investment Fraud is a rising issue. A presentation on the Psychology of Fraud was given by UK Finance, which covered the perception of risks relating to financial fraud, how victims are manipulated (Subjective Cascade Theory), and how organised criminals find the ‘touch points’ of their victims. Discussion also took place on Active Shimmer (Wedge) / Relay attacks, an evolving threat in several countries.
Updates from the three EAST Expert Groups were given:
- EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF)
- EAST Expert Group on ATM and ATS Physical Attacks (EGAP)
- EAST Expert Group on Payment and Transaction Fraud (EPTF)
EAST Fraud Update 2-2023 will be produced early next month, based on the country updates provided at the EAST Global Congress. EAST Fraud, Payment, and Physical Attack Alerts are available on the EAST Intranet to EAST Members.
The 5th EAST Global Congress, scheduled for 11th October 2023, will also be held as a Hybrid Meeting.
