BioCatch, the global leader in behavioral biometrics, in another first, announced today that it has launched Mule Account Detection, a best-in-class solution that delivers comprehensive protection against money mule scenarios.
Money mules are people who, at someone else’s direction, receive and move money obtained from victims of fraud. Mule accounts are a critical link in the fraud supply chain infrastructure central to the criminal cash out and money laundering process. Cybercriminals have capitalized on the global pandemic and new scrutiny is directed toward financial institutions from global regulators on detection and handling of money mule accounts. With billions being pumped into economic stimulus, cybercriminals took advantage of the vulnerability of individuals by using their accounts to move money between financial systems around the world. Recruitment of money mules generally has also been at an all-time high, with kids and young adults being particularly vulnerable to money laundering schemes.
“The issue of mule account detection is complex because there are many different scenarios at play. A financial institution could be dealing with a criminal using a stolen or synthetic identity to open a new account for muling purposes or could have taken over the trusted account of an unwitting victim to launder stolen funds,” said BioCatch CEO, Gadi Mazor. “BioCatch Mule Account Detection applies machine learning risk models to look for the unique behaviors associated with multiple fraud scenarios indicative of mule activity at both account opening and the point of payment.”
“Concern over the implications of the increased rates of mule activity resulting from the extraordinary amount of fraudulent payments intercepted from government stimulus programs is influencing how many financial institutions are incorporating mule detection capabilities into existing transformation programs,” said Trace Fooshee, Strategic Advisor in Aite-Novarica’s Fraud & AML practice. “In some cases, financial institutions are restructuring policies and, even organizational structures, in order to more deliberately mitigate the risks.”
When mule accounts are left unmanaged, financial institutions can face major financial loss, regulatory issues, and reputational risks. According to a recent survey by Aite-Novarica, 64% of executives state their institutions have taken a greater interest in tracking, detecting and preventing mule activity. The BioCatch Mule Account Detection solution runs continuously in the background of every digital session, monitoring for anomalies that can suggest an account is operating as a money mule.
BioCatch’s fraud protection platform detects financial fraud across several uses cases such as account opening fraud, account takeover, scams and now mule accounts. Built on innovative behavioral biometric technology BioCatch is leveraged by over 50 global financial institutions to reduce the emotional and financial impact of fraud and identity theft for their customers, providing trust and safety while protecting customers and their assets from today’s most sophisticated fraud threats.
