NAFCU Journal May June 2021

23 THE NAFCU JOURNAL May–June 2021 front-line employee may gather informa- tion by asking questions, they do not con- front the member, she says. If a member comes in to make a deposit and makes an immediate wire transfer, the front-line staff ’s notification enables the BSA staff to review the transaction before approv- ing it or wiring the funds, she explains. “We’ve also edited the reports we monitor to broaden the range of transactions to include unemployment and stimulus pay- ment deposits,” says Akes. “When we see new trends and new types of fraud, we share that information with employees at monthly training sessions.” Increasing the review and validation of unemployment checks is another step that Visions has taken, says Amie Reilly, risk mitigation manager for the credit union. In addition to reviewing ACH payments, checks that are depos- ited remotely—via mobile apps or ATMs—are also reviewed for legitimacy, she adds. “We also reduced the limit to deposit, so members would not have access to deposited funds immediately,” says Munsterteiger. He does point out that holds are limited on deposits made via e-deposit. “We focus on money leaving the account and look for patterns.” One limitation of many fraud detection programs is the lack of integration of debit and e-deposit transactions, but Randolph-Brooks uses a “homegrown” online banking platform that they can easily tweak, says Munsterteiger. The most critical change made in the last year was to solve the problem of siloed debit and e-deposit transactions. “We can now segment debit card holders following an e-deposit by placing the account into a segment for a short time to monitor transactions—looking for a quick peer- to-peer withdrawal through platforms such as Venmo,” he explains. “One of our analysts will call the member to ask about the transaction.” Conversations with members can be tricky because they may be willingly participating in the scam, points out Munsterteiger. “They usually say that their debit card was lost or stolen and they forgot to report it,” he says. “Unfortunately, some members may have been scammed and do not realize it until we call.” Keeping Employees and Members Alert Communicating the threat of scammers and fraudulent transactions is a mix of signage in the branch, website notices, newsletters to members and social media posts, says Munsterteiger. “We’ve had There has also been a rise in smishing—the text message version of email phishing. ... Although people are more aware of the risk of fraudulent email messages, they are not as skeptical of text messages, especially if the message names their credit union. DARLA HUFF, VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF RISK OFFICER FOR VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION