SAS’s New Study Highlights Consumer Concerns Over Generative AI in Fraud

CARY, N.C., Nov. 13, 2023 — As the sun rises on another International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 12-18, 2023, it shines on a world perhaps more fraud conscious than at any time in history. A recent consumer fraud study, based on a survey of 13,500 adults by AI and analytics leader SAS, revealed that:

• Seven in 10 have fallen victim to fraud at least once; 40% reported suffering fraud twice or more.
• A vast majority (86%) are more wary of fraud now compared to previously.
• Three-quarters are fearful of experiencing future fraud.

“Even as consumers signal increased fraud vigilance, generative AI and deepfake technology are helping fraudsters hone their lucrative craft,” said Stu Bradley, Senior Vice President of Risk, Fraud and Compliance at SAS. “Phishing messages are becoming more polished. Replica websites look stunningly like the ones they mean to imitate. It takes just $5 and a few seconds of audio to clone someone’s voice with readily available online tools.”

Turning the tide on fraudsters: ways to engage

With stakes so high, SAS is again joining forces with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and more than 1,000 supporting organizations around one goal: to curb fraud and its financial and social harms by driving anti-fraud awareness and education. Seize these complimentary opportunities to become more fraud savvy with SAS throughout Fraud Week:

• SAS webinar: The Fraud Arms Race: How Governments and Fraudsters are Battling for Advantage. Tuesday, Nov. 14, 8:30 a.m. ET (and later on demand). Join public sector experts from SAS to explore how fraudsters are using generative AI and other innovations to exploit and plunder – and discover the latest countermeasures governments worldwide are using to stop them.
• Live Twitter/X chat: What’s Next? Fraud & AML Trends for 2024 (and Beyond). Thursday, Nov. 16, 9 a.m. ET. Will generative AI live up to the hype? How will today’s prevailing digital fraud trends influence the anti-fraud tools and strategies used in sectors like banking, government, health care and insurance? Join SAS’ Stu Bradley and other cross-industry fraud experts on Twitter/X for a lively #SASchat.
• ACFE webinar: Fighting Financial Crime in the Generative AI Age. Friday, Nov. 17, 11 a.m. ET. Open for the first time to ACFE members and nonmembers alike, the ACFE will align experts from SAS, Datos Insights and Unconventional Ventures to examine the threats posed by generative AI’s explosive growth – and how organizations can mitigate them. Nonmember participation is limited to the live broadcast (register here); the webinar will be available on demand to ACFE members starting Dec. 7.

“Anti-fraud professionals can’t afford to ignore the scams and frauds coming to the fore in these challenging economic times – nor can the organizations that employ them afford to disregard the public’s changing expectations around fraud protection,” said ACFE President John Gill. “Keeping up with anti-fraud innovation will be critical across industries as fraudsters take advantage of generative AI and other emerging technologies.”

SAS’ research showed how important fraud protection has become to consumers. “Consider that nine in 10 consumers think organizations should be doing more to safeguard them from fraud, and that two-thirds said they would change service providers due to a fraud experience or for better fraud protection,” Bradley said. “These proof points – and the real-world gains achieved by SAS customers – underscore the tremendous potential of businesses’ anti-fraud investments to help them grow and flourish.”

Using AI to stop financial fraud in real time

Beyond serving as Italy’s national postal service, Poste Italiane is among the country’s leading financial institutions, providing banking, insurance and even telecommunications services to 35 million customers. Protecting the 11 million customers who interact with Poste Italiane each day from fraud, abuse and improper payments is a foremost priority for the 160-year-old institution. That’s why the company uses advanced analytics and AI from SAS to detect fraud more precisely.

“Machine learning techniques provide that layer of intelligence that allows us to identify risk situations, analyze them very quickly and intervene when necessary,” said Raffaele Panico, Head of Fraud Management and Security Intelligence at Poste Italiane. “We have reduced false positives by 40% and increased our ability to handle anomalies by more than 20%.”

On the e-money side, Panico reported that Poste Italiane’s fraud ratio dropped by 50% in just three months after the launch of the anti-fraud service. “This is an astonishing figure, especially when we consider that in the last two years fraud has increased by 90% worldwide,” said Panico.

About SAS

SAS is a global leader in AI and analytics software, including industry-specific solutions. SAS helps organizations transform data into trusted decisions faster by providing knowledge in the moments that matter. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW.

Source: SAS