Loading...

What does a return to growth mean for fraud prevention?

Published: June 13, 2011 by Matt Ehrlich

At Experian’s recent client conference, Vision 2011, there was a refreshing amount of positive discussion and outlook on origination rates and acquisition strategies for growth. This was coming not only from industry analysts participating in the conference but from clients as well. As a consumer, I’d sensed the ‘cautious optimism’ that we keep hearing about because my mailbox(the ‘original’ one, not email) has slowly been getting more and more credit card offer letters over the last 6 months.   Does this mean a return to prospecting and ultimately growth for financial institutions and lenders? It’s a glimmer of hope, for sure, although most agree that we’re a long way from being out of the woods, particularly with unemployment rates still high and the housing market in dire shape.

Soooo…..you may be wondering where I’m going with this….

Since my job is to support banks, lenders, utilities and numerous other businesses’ in their fraud prevention and compliance efforts, where my mind goes is: how does a return to growth – even slight – impact fraud trends and our clients’ risk management policies?

While many factors remain to be seen, here are a few early observations:

·         Account takeover, bust out fraud, and other types of existing account fraud had been on the rise while application fraud had declined or stayed the same (relative to the decrease in new originations); with prospecting and acquisition activity starting to increase, we will likely see a resurgence in new account fraud attempts and methods.

·         Financial institutions and consumers are under increasing risk of malware attacks; with more sophisticated malware technology popping up every day, this will likely be a prime means for fraudsters to commit identity theft and exploit potentially easier new account opening policies.

·         With fraud loss numbers flat or down, the contracted fraud budgets and delayed technology investments by companies over the last few years are a point of vulnerability, especially if the acquisition growth rate jumps substantially.

Related Posts

Tenant screening fraud is rising, with falsified paystubs and AI-generated documents driving risk. Learn how income and employment verification tools powered by observed data improve fraud detection, reduce costs, and streamline tenant screening.

Published: September 4, 2025 by Ted Wentzel

In today’s digital lending landscape, fraudsters are more sophisticated, coordinated, and relentless than ever. For companies like Terrace Finance — a specialty finance platform connecting over 5,000 merchants, consumers, and lenders — effectively staying ahead of these threats is a major competitive advantage. That is why Terrace Finance partnered with NeuroID, a part of Experian, to bring behavioral analytics into their fraud prevention strategy. It has given Terrace’s team a proactive, real-time defense that is transforming how they detect and respond to attacks — potentially stopping fraud before it ever reaches their lending partners. The challenge: Sophisticated fraud in a high-stakes ecosystem Terrace Finance operates in a complex environment, offering financing across a wide range of industries and credit profiles. With applications flowing in from countless channels, the risk of fraud is ever-present. A single fraudulent transaction can damage lender relationships or even cut off financing access for entire merchant groups. According to CEO Andy Hopkins, protecting its partners is a top priority for Terrace:“We know that each individual fraud attack can be very costly for merchants, and some merchants will get shut off from their lending partners because fraud was let through ... It is necessary in this business to keep fraud at a tolerable level, with the ultimate goal to eliminate it entirely.” Prior to NeuroID, Terrace was confident in its ability to validate submitted data. But with concerns about GenAI-powered fraud growing, including the threat of next-generation fraud bots, Terrace sought out a solution that could provide visibility into how data was being entered and detect risk before applications are submitted. The solution: Behavioral analytics from NeuroID via Experian After integrating NeuroID through Experian’s orchestration platform, Terrace gained access to real-time behavioral signals that detected fraud before data was even submitted. Just hours after Terrace turned NeuroID on, behavioral signals revealed a major attack in progress — NeuroID enabled Terrace to respond faster than ever and reduce risk immediately. “Going live was my most nerve-wracking day. We knew we would see data that we have never seen before and sure enough, we were right in the middle of an attack,” Hopkins said. “We thought the fraud was a little more generic and a little more spread out. What we found was much more coordinated activities, but this also meant we could bring more surgical solutions to the problem instead of broad strokes.” Terrace has seen significant results with NeuroID in place, including: Together, NeuroID and Experian enabled Terrace to build a layered, intelligent fraud defense that adapts in real time. A partnership built on innovation Terrace Finance’s success is a testament to what is  possible when forward-thinking companies partner with innovative technology providers. With Experian’s fraud analytics and NeuroID’s behavioral intelligence, they have built a fraud prevention strategy that is proactive, precise, and scalable. And they are not stopping there. Terrace is now working with Experian to explore additional tools and insights across the ecosystem, continuing to refine their fraud defenses and deliver the best possible experience for genuine users. “We use the analogy of a stream,” Hopkins explained. “Rocks block the flow, and as you remove them, it flows better. But that means smaller rocks are now exposed. We can repeat these improvements until the water flows smoothly.” Learn more about Terrace Finance and NeuroID Want more of the story? Read the full case study to explore how behavioral analytics provided immediate and long-term value to Terrace Finance’s innovative fraud prevention strategy. Read case study

Published: September 3, 2025 by Allison Lemaster

Experian is proud to be a Thought Leadership Sponsor at this year’s Federal Identity Forum & Expo. Meet us on site at FedID!

Published: August 1, 2025 by Kim Le