André and his colleagues at Tieto Banktech in Mo i Rana are on duty around the clock to prevent you, me, and millions of card users worldwide from being scammed.
Out of the total 300 employees in Mo i Rana, 70 work in Tieto's Financial Crime Prevention division. They monitor nearly 4 billion card transactions annually. The warning lights are constantly flashing!
- Every day, we detect over 500 fraud cases and reach out to end-users to confirm our suspicions, says André. Of course, sometimes it’s not fraud; individuals may intentionally go wild with online shopping.
André describes the work as a "cat-and-mouse game" between them and criminals. It’s essential to stay on your toes and adjust to developments.
- We work a lot with innovation and service development to continually improve and stay competitive with the banks we serve.
Criminals are increasingly using advanced methods, including artificial intelligence.
- We see more instances of people receiving calls from voices identical to someone they know or websites that are a near prefect copy of genuine ones. A frightening trend is the increase in manipulation fraud, where people we contact refuse to believe they’re about to be scammed and insist on completing the payments.
The days when André could identify fraud due to mediocre English are largely over. Today’s fraudsters use advanced technology, but so does Tieto.
The more data, the better
Staying ahead of criminals is about having access to data and creating algorithms that use the data effectively.
- We use AI technology combined with human expertise to deliver the best possible quality. We don’t just look at card transactions but also account payments and authentications to create a comprehensive risk picture.
André and his colleagues are now looking at the process of enrolling and securing cards in digital wallets, where they help create a safer payment ecosystem through extensive and comprehensive monitoring.
- The developments in the industry and our need to stay ahead make this an incredibly exciting field to work in.
An important social mission
Technological development is a significant reason André enjoys his job—but far from the only one. It’s no coincidence he returned to the company he first joined in 2006, albeit in a different role.
- I feel like we’re working on something important. It’s inherently meaningful to prevent individuals and banks from losing large sums of money, but I also think about what criminals would use the money for. It would fund other crimes, like drug and arms trafficking. The fact that we can stop a lot of the cash flow to criminal networks gives this job a high degree of meaning.
Last year, André and his team prevented fraud totaling over 2 billion kroner. In addition to fraud detection, they work on other initiatives:
- We look at the entire value chain of economic crime, and we’re running a pilot to detect money mule activities in money laundering. We’re now setting up a solution that can reject suspicious transactions in real-time and send them to the bank for further evaluation.
This pilot is being developed in collaboration with a bank and shows a division that is proactive and eager to develop.
- The unit in Mo i Rana originally started as a startup before being acquired by what is now Tieto. It’s in our DNA to keep innovating, always look for new opportunities, and develop our skills. We never stand still.
