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Fighting Bank Fraud With Video-Based Security Surveillance

One of the best means to fight fraud in the banking sector is through the use of video-based security surveillance. It has proven to be effective and worthy of investment. Fraud and other illegal activities are cause for major concern at all banks. Identity theft and on-premises holdups are some of the more prominent crimes that come to mind when we think about threats, but smaller petty crimes often are more common and can have a surprisingly significant impact not only on a bank’s bottom line but on its reputation as well.

In one such example of fraud at Bank Hapoalim, Israel, a customer had given the teller a large cash deposit. The teller, having counted the money, was in the process of putting the cash in the desk safe when he was distracted by a question from a coworker. As the teller turned to address his colleague, the customer simply reached over the counter and took back a portion of money, pocketing it (Peled, 2007).

In another case, a teller left his desk briefly, leaving a short queue of customers to wait. One of the customers from the queue stepped forward and grabbed a handful of new credit cards from a box on the teller’s desk that were ready to be mailed out to customers with activation information. The customer, undetected by his fellow bank patrons, slipped the stolen cards into a bag and stepped back into line as though nothing had happened. As serious as these seemingly small acts of theft were, there are crimes with far graver outcomes. Recently, an elderly woman was killed after being robbed by a man who fled the scene and escaped capture. He then used the woman’s bank card to withdraw cash from a Bank Hapoalim ATM. While this story cannot have a happy conclusion, justice was served in the end with the help of video surveillance technology (Peled, 2007). So, video-base surveillance has come to stay in the banking sector.

Let’s look at various ways in which banks make use of these technologies:

Monitoring Access to Sensitive Areas with Real-Time Alerts: It’s critical that bank employees follow procedure, especially when it comes to handling cash. Most financial institutions mandate dual control procedures, which require the presence of two employees for tasks like transferring cash drawers or opening safes. Any deviation from policy could signal someone’s intent to commit a crime. Using integrated video analytics, financial institutions can monitor specific areas of interests in their branches and trigger an alert when a physical event – like a safe opening – takes place. Security staff can set up automated reports detailing each time the safe was opened and check the corresponding video to see what took place. Similar notifications can be used in a variety of ways to activate video recording when a night deposit box opens, or when someone enters a money room or vault (Sumner, 2016).

Safeguarding Surveillance Cameras with Active Tampering Alarms: Fraudsters often try to cover their tracks by dismantling or blocking security camera views in advance of a crime. With intelligent video, banks and credit unions can be immediately notified if something is obstructing a camera’s field of view. This could be as innocent as an employee stacking inventory too high and inadvertently blocking the camera, or in outdoor situations, a tree branch that’s blown over in front of the camera. But it could also be someone spray-painting the camera lens that’s capturing activity around the ATM. Analytics can help ensure video is protected by generating real-time alerts if cameras are blocked or moved (Sumner, 2016).

Uncovering Internal Theft and Fraud: Unfortunately, employee theft and fraud is a reality for many financial institutions. One anti-fraud organization in the U.K., CIFAS, recently noted an increase in the number of bank staff stealing from customers. The organization saw a trend of fraudulent activity, caused by employees who were manipulating account information for their own gain. A recent example of this was also reported in Alabama, where a bank employee was opening accounts in other people’s names for the purpose of receiving fraudulent tax refunds. Video can help uncover this kind of fraud by making it easy for banks to review employee behavior. If something seems suspicious, managers can investigate the video to see what actually took place (Sumner, 2016).

Detecting the Installation of ATM Skimming Devices: For banks and credit unions, ATMs are a fast and convenient way to provide service to customers at all hours. But ATMs are increasingly vulnerable to criminals, who are becoming more adept at installing skimmer technology. One report by the U.S. branch of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Pace University in New York, said North Americans are particularly vulnerable to skimmer fraud because of the high number of ATMs that exist in the U.S and the fact that Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) chip card technology is not fully implemented yet in America.

Video-based business intelligence solutions help banks combat the installation of skimming devices by detecting when someone is standing at an ATM for an extended period of time, but not making a transaction. Banks can receive alerts in real-time, allowing them to quickly investigate, remove a skimming device if one has been installed, and proactively alert customers who may have been impacted (Sumner, 2016).

Discovering Cash Harvesting and Suspicious Behavior at ATMs: Similarly, intelligent video can identify when cash harvesting and other suspicious behavior is taking place at an ATM. Cash harvesting occurs when the same person uses several cards to make multiple transactions, such as a criminal making withdrawals using lost or stolen cards. By deploying the right kind of analytics over their ATMs, banks and credit unions can quickly detect potential incidents of cash harvesting through automated system reports on this kind of activity.

Finding Check and Identity Fraud: According to the 2015 AFP Payments Fraud and Controls Survey, checks are the payment method most often targeted for fraud. Most experts agree that the majority of bad checks are written on new accounts. Banks can protect themselves and their customers with an intelligent video solution that enables them to rapidly locate checks with low numbers, decreasing the amount of time it takes to find fraud. They can also search and sort through accounts opened online – another area often targeted by criminals – by searching account numbers containing an online identifier. If someone’s account has been compromised, security officials can pull up the corresponding video to find the culprit (Sumner, 2016).

References

Peled, S (2007). Video Surveillance In The Fight Against Bank Fraud. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/2438010/it-strategy/video-surveillance-in-the-fight-against-bank-fraud.html

Sumner, D (2016). 6 Ways Banks Are Fighting Fraud With Video Based Business Intelligence. Retrieved from https://securitytoday.com/Articles/2016/03/16/Six-Ways-Banks-Are-Fighting-Fraud-with-Video-Based-Business-Intelligence.aspx?Page=1

Video Surveillance (2016). Bank Security Camera Systems. Retrieved from https://www.videosurveillance.com/banks.asp

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