NAFCU Journal May June 2021

21 Alert branch staff, expanded monitoring and diligence mitigate risk By Sheryl S. Jackson T he increase in e-commerce and online financial transactions throughout the pandemic has called for enhanced monitoring to identify potential fraud in debit and credit card transactions, but credit unions are also reporting an overall increase in fraudulent activity—some of it not com- monly seen before 2020. As people worked from home and connected with others through social media and even video game chat rooms, there was an increase in the number of members who acted as “money mules” for oth- ers—depositing fraudulent checks into their accounts, keeping part of the money as their commission or payment, then transferring funds to another account or person. Fraud Takes on New Forms “Sometimes it begins as a romance scam with our member thinking they are helping a new roman- tic partner by depositing what appears to be a payroll check,” says Jennifer Akes, compliance special- ist at Service First Federal Credit Union. “People have been more susceptible to these romance scams due to the isolation of work- ing from home and inability to be with friends and family.” Fraud Trends Require Extra Attention THE NAFCU JOURNAL May–June 2021