Employee Insiders Suspected of Stealing UK Banking Data

Fraudsters-turned-bank-employees are suspected of infiltrating U.K. financial institutions (FIs) and committing crimes, The Telegraph reported.

Over 2,000 employees on a shared fraud database since 2016 were flagged by High Street banks, mortgage brokers and insurance companies, according to the report, citing figures from the fraud prevention service Cifas.

See also: Check Fraud Accounts for 60% of Attempted Bank Account Theft

Almost 10% had previously been suspected of flying under the radar of financial laws. This has initiated a move to get rid of scammers from the inside and remove their access to the personal financial data of millions of customers, Cifas said, per the report.

Slightly fewer than 50% of those flagged on the database were singled out for stealing cash, committing fraud or swindling accounts, according to the report. Organizations also said job candidates filed false information on applications and hid unfavorable credit or employment history.

Read also: AI and Transaction Notifications Help FIs Stop Payments Fraud Before Customers Get Scammed

Cifas head Mike Haley said in the report that there were many more cases that fell between the cracks that would soon surface. In-person controls and safeguards that were in place before the pandemic took hold are more difficult to replicate with remote or hybrid working models.

“The mass shift to working from home has created numerous opportunities for dishonest staff to commit fraud against their employer and customers,” Haley said, per the report. “There should be regular screening of staff rather than just at the point of hire. Pressures in someone’s personal life could lead them into committing fraud at any time, and so checking against multiple fraud databases at regular intervals is the right thing to do.”

See also: Open Banking Data Transparency Helps Consumers, Banks Stop Fraud

Employers should cross-reference workers across several different systems, including a nationwide fraud database and an internal database used by firms, the report stated.