WFF Association webinar: Are You Looking for Fraud in the Wrong Places?

• When: Thursday, April 16th from 11am – 12pm BST
• Where: Microsoft Teams

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More about the session:

As financial crime professionals, we design systems to detect suspicious activity, prevent money laundering and stop fraud before it causes harm. But there is one uncomfortable question: what if we are looking for fraud in the wrong places?

In most financial services firms, fraud frameworks follow a familiar pattern. We focus on external criminals trying to exploit the organisation, or internal employees acting dishonestly. These are the risks our policies, monitoring tools and governance structures are designed to detect. But fraud does not always follow those expectations.  Sometimes the risks sit within the wider ecosystem of partners, intermediaries and professional firms that organisations rely on every day.

Join us online on Thursday 16th April from 11:00–12:00 BST, in a webinar hosted by the We Fight Fincrime Association, Tony Sales, WFF Co-Founder and Martin Schofield, Director at MSA will explore a frequently overlooked vulnerability in financial crime controls: the risk posed by trusted partners and industry relationships. From lenders and intermediaries to solicitors, brokers and other professional service providers, the organisations we assume to be safe can sometimes become part of the problem.

Drawing on real-world cases and perspectives from both sides of the law, this session will challenge conventional thinking about fraud detection and encourage MLROs and Heads of Fraud to rethink where risk may really sit within their operating environment.

On this webinar, we will examine:

• The psychology of trust in fraud.
• The overlooked risk of “trusted partners”, both internal and external.
• When controls exist but still fail.
• Examples and typologies of ‘overlooked’ frauds.
• The gap between responsibility and verification.

Join us on Thursday, April 16th from 11am – 12pm BST to learn more and stay protected.

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Speakers:

Tony Sales – Tony Sales is the Co-Founder of We Fight Fincrime and Underworld TV. As a child, Tony was drawn into a world of crime that would lead into adulthood, with devastating consequences, not only for Tony but for financial institutions around the world. In 2009, after spending half a decade as a fugitive, Tony went to prison. During the sentence, and a visit from his wife and children he had an epiphany. He wanted to make up to his victims by using his knowledge to prevent financial crime. Everyone laughed at first but for Tony, it seemed like an obvious fit.

In 2012 Tony said “Data is the new cash. Criminals understand the value of data, so businesses should expect data ransom attacks to be coming.” The year after the prediction, in 2013 ransomware became mainstream. Over a decade later, Tony is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on Social Engineering, Fraud, and Cyber Crime. Working alongside leaders from law enforcement and academia, he has advised governments, financial institutions and some of the world’s biggest brands on their fraud and financial crime strategy. His criminal insight has become invaluable, making him a popular figure who regularly appears on TV and radio.

Martin Schofield – Martin has undertaken financial crime prevention roles for the last 26 years and is a well-known and established figure in the financial crime prevention sector. Martin is regarded as a highly competent Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), subject matter expert, an outstanding trainer, and a true expert in the field of financial crime prevention.

Over the last 26 years Martin has been engaged on numerous inhouse and consulting and training projects, both globally and domestic, and for major financial services firms, involving all aspects of financial crime prevention, including (but not limited to) money laundering prevention, sanctions compliance, fraud prevention and anti-bribery & corruption, as well as undertaking policy authoring, reviews, audits and pre and post regulatory visit reviews and monitoring. Martin has also acted as lead investigator in countless internal and external investigations, involving mortgage fraud, application fraud, identity fraud and money laundering.

Martin is a Fellow of the International Compliance Association (ICA) and the Association of Governance, Risk and Compliance (AGRC) and has spent time working as an Economic Crime Consultant to two UK Police Forces, has also worked on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, as a member of the Independent Monitoring Board of Prisons and Detention Centres and is currently in the process of applying to become a Court Magistrate. Other areas of speciality include data protection, anti-bribery and corruption, market abuse, senior management responsibility, conduct risk and vulnerable

Jonathan Greenstein – Jonathan is the Founder and Managing Director of Lagom Consulting, where he advises financial services, fintech, and professional services firms on growth, international expansion, and business transformation. Alongside his commercial expertise, Jonathan has deep experience in the compliance and anti-financial crime space, supporting firms across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East with regulatory strategy, governance, and market entry.

He has worked closely with compliance consultancies, regulated firms, and industry associations to help businesses navigate complex regulatory landscapes while pursuing ambitious growth.