Independent Banker - June 2024 - 21

Next: Curating products for the next generation 
confirm their identity.
" Not something that's publicly
available information, like what
high school they went to, " Marshall
says. " But if you have some memory
or shared experience with that
person, ask them in detail about that,
something that wouldn't be easy to
look up. That can be another way to
confirm if they are the real person
rather than a fraudster. "
Written generative-AI
fraud spotting
As generative AI gets more advanced,
typical red flags in phishing attempts
are eliminated, such as weird
punctuation, grammatical errors or
just words that don't make sense,
which is often because the attempt is
coming from someone who isn't fully
fluent in English, says Lance Noggle,
ICBA senior vice president, operations
and senior regulatory counsel.
" Now, it's going to come out as a
good convincing email, and then the
fraudster can insert their malicious
link, attachment or what have you, "
he says. " But there are other things
that banks can look for and things
they can still do to make sure that
the emails or the phone calls they're
getting are legitimate. "
Noggle suggests that when
scrutinizing emails, bank employees
and customers should ask themselves
whether the person in question
would send them such an email.
They should also examine the email
address. In addition to the name, is
everything else exactly the same as the
typical email they would receive from
this person?
Moreover, if the email is supposedly
from their boss working in the same
city but is sent during the middle of
the night, would that make sense?
More likely, it's coming from someone
living in a country halfway across
the world.
The same best practices for
thwarting standard phishing attempts
still come into play, like reaching out
to the person in question in another
way to ask them if they actually
sent the email, Noggle says. If the
person says yes, the bank employee
or customer should then verify
something about the person to make
sure they are real before they take
any action.
Voice impersonation scams
If it's a phone call, unless the fraudster
has somehow spoofed the person's
number, they are likely calling from a
different number, Noggle says.
" After you listen to what they say,
hang up and call the person being
impersonated from a number that you
know is actually theirs to find out if
they are the one calling on the other
number or whether they are, indeed,
being impersonated by a fraudster, "
he says.
The potential of generative AI
Even as concern surrounding fraud grows, generative AI's
usefulness in the banking sector is apparent. With the current
adoption rate, McKinsey & Company Financial Services predicts
generative AI could provide banks with significant value increase-
between $200 billion and $340 billion. More specifically, retail
banking, corporate banking, and risk and legal are expected to see
the greatest benefit from this advancing technology.
The key to thwarting generative
AI phishing attempts is to always
scrutinize emails, phone calls and
videos that seem " a little off, " and
then find ways to verify identities
before clicking a link, opening an
attachment or following instructions
to send money.
" Unfortunately, " says Noggle,
" generative AI fraud is a new
landscape. But fortunately, if you're
following the same kind of standard
best practices, it shouldn't, hopefully,
have too much of an impact. "
Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a writer
in California.
" A big part of it is trusting
your instincts, and if
something seems off about
the video or a call that you're
receiving, don't ignore it. "
-MICKEY MARSHALL, ICBA
independentbanker.org // 21
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - June 2024

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