Synthetic Fraud with Mike Cook

Millions have been impacted by data breaches. Many of us know how fraudsters work and how they utilize this information. But our parents and children become victims because of their fear or urgency inflicted by the scammers. Today’s guest is Mike Cook. Mike is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience working and serving in the financial services, wireless, cable/satellite, and auto financial industries. He has built several data breach applications in compliance, manual verification, and account management solutions.

Show Notes:

• [0:56] - Mike shares his background and what he currently does.
• [2:10] - When Mike talked to a fraudster who stole cars, he immediately became interested in fraud and scams.
• [3:47] - Mike’s daughter was a victim of a scam and lost a lot of money, but the biggest impact was how fearful she was.
• [6:20] - In years past, fraud was easier to stop, but now everyone’s data is available somewhere online.
• [8:04] - Once data is breached, that information can be copied and sold over and over again.
• [9:30] - What is a citizen fraudster?
• [11:01] - Lenders and consumers are both heavily impacted by data breaches.
• [12:31] - As a consumer, you need to listen to every word. If it sounds too good to be true or too scary and urgent, it’s a scam.
• [14:08] - It is so easy to click on things without thinking about it.
• [15:19] - Don’t ever feel bad about choosing not to give someone information.
• [16:57] - When the economy goes down, fraud goes up.
• [18:55] - Fraud has never been harder to stop, has never been smarter, never been swifter to change patterns. It is on fire right now.
• [20:04] - Covid resulted in everyone moving to remote working, learning, and everything being online. It expedited the growth in fraud.
• [21:22] - Fraud is easier to commit online in a faceless environment.
• [23:46] - Mike is optimistic about upcoming policy changes.
• [25:18] - What is synthetic fraud and what are the impacts for consumers?
• [26:44] - There are ways to create a false identity to get through defenses and commit fraud.
• [28:21] - Synthetic fraud can get through but isn’t as hard to stop.
• [29:42] - Stopping fraud for consumers is a huge balancing act for organizations.