Global Fraud Program: Combating Financial Fraud Through Innovation and Collaboration

Financial fraud poses a significant threat to global economic stability, with billions lost annually. As the digital finance landscape rapidly evolves, AIR’s Global Fraud Program is committed to protecting individuals, protecting society and enhancing financial security around the world.

Background

Fraud has become a critical global issue with far-reaching consequences. In 2024, INTERPOL identified financial fraud as “a pervasive, global threat.” In 2023 alone, INTERPOL’s Financial and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) supported over 700 financial fraud cases, involving approximately USD 1.2 billion in losses. Notably, between 2022 and 2023, fraud accounted for 85% of INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions, underscoring its pervasive and costly impact on a global scale. On a global level, it is estimated that $5 trillion is lost to fraud. (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners)

As digital finance has expanded, new vulnerabilities have emerged, particularly affecting individuals who are unfamiliar with or new to digital financial services. Vulnerable populations, including the elderly and those with low literacy, are at heightened risk of exploitation. Fraud causes significant personal and financial harm to individuals and leads to substantial losses for businesses, which in turn erodes trust in the financial system and poses a systemic risk to global financial stability.

The Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR) is deeply committed to combating financial fraud on a global scale through our comprehensive Fraud Program. This initiative is a critical component of our mission to ensure that the digital transformation of finance is matched by the digital transformation of financial regulation, thereby enhancing consumer protection and building stronger societies.

Program Objectives

AIR’s Fraud Program prioritizes four key impact areas: Consumer Protection, Consumer Education, Policy, and Technology. It emphasizes the importance of global information sharing and draws insights from jurisdictions that have implemented real-time systems. The overarching goal is to leverage AIR’s expertise to make a meaningful impact in fraud prevention through targeted strategies that promote both consumer protection and education while advancing policy and technological solutions. The goal is to:

Empower regulators and policymakers with the knowledge and strategies needed to combat fraud effectively.
Build a global community of regulators, fraud experts, law enforcement, consumer advocates, financial institutions, and technology providers that fosters collaboration and enables knowledge sharing.
Create collaboration opportunities or forums where global regulatory bodies can engage with the private sector to create and harmonize policies that address fraud effectively.
Stay abreast of emerging technologies, sharing insights and showcasing tech solutions to help regulators understand and leverage these advancements in combating fraud.
Enhance consumer protection by collaborating with consumer advocacy groups to develop education programs and tools that help individuals recognize and protect themselves from fraudulent activities.

Key Components

Consumer Protection

Develop targeted strategies to safeguard vulnerable populations

Collaborate with consumer advocacy groups to enhance protection measures

Promote the implementation of robust fraud prevention mechanisms

Work towards harmonizing consumer protection policies across regions

Policy

Facilitate regulatory roundtables to discuss emerging fraud trends

Conduct policy techsprints to create and refine anti-fraud regulations

Publish collaborative white papers on best practices and policy recommendations

Foster cross-border co-operation to address transnational fraud issues

facilitate policy discussions on global fraud

Technology

Organize tech showcases featuring innovative fraud detection and prevention solutions

Conduct techsprints to develop new anti-fraud technologies

Explore the potential of AI and machine learning in combating fraud

Maintain a repository of emerging technologies and best practices in fraud prevention

Education & Awareness

Create targeted consumer education programs on fraud recognition and prevention

Develop resources to improve digital literacy among vulnerable populations

Host workshops and seminars to train regulators on the latest fraud detection techniques

Collaborate with financial institutions to enhance their customer education initiatives

Create targeted consumer education programs on global fraud recognition

By addressing these critical areas, AIR’s Fraud Program seeks to create a safer digital financial ecosystem for all. Our multifaceted approach combines policy innovation, technological advancement, consumer empowerment, and strategic collaboration to tackle the complex challenges posed by financial fraud in the digital age.

Related Work

Event • Simulation: Battlefront (Coming Soon)

AIR will host an interactive event where regulators (and others) can learn the fundamentals of agentive/agentic/generative AI, contextualize the potential impact for consumers and businesses, and ideate solutions with a cross-functional community who shares the common goal of combating fraud.