Fraud Forward

Hailey Windham
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Fraud Forward is a banking-focused podcast bringing together fraud fighters, risk leaders, and financial crime experts to explore how fraud is evolving, and how financial institutions must adapt. Each episode features practical, candid conversations with teams in the trenches, covering strategy, governance, prevention, and recovery. Rather than chasing headlines, Fraud Forward focuses on what’s working, what’s changing, and what fraud leaders need to prepare for as financial crime accelerates. This is where banking comes together to challenge assumptions, pressure-test controls, and move fraud forward.

  1. 1d ago

    More than a transaction: What Happened to the Career Teller?

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This one started with a can of hairspray. Jen Lamont and I were getting ready for a networking event, and somehow a conversation about hair products turned into a conversation about the future of fraud prevention in banking. Because we ended up talking about her mom. A career teller in banking for decades. Someone who knew multiple generations of families, who turned down promotions to stay at the window because she loved the people, who took pride in the role in ways that I think a lot of institutions have quietly trained out of the job. And that got me asking a question I haven't been able to shake since: have we made it harder for the people closest to our customers to actually see them? We still call tellers our first line of defense. But we've also loaded that line with sales goals, referral quotas, transaction time expectations, compliance responsibilities, and lobby metrics. Meanwhile, fraud has gotten more human than ever. Scammers aren't just stealing credentials anymore. They're manipulating customers into moving the money themselves. And the only person standing between a coached customer and a wire going out the door is often a teller who has been measured on everything except whether they noticed something felt wrong. Jen brings a perspective to this conversation that I think is rare and really important. She's a fraud professional who grew up watching her mom build a full career at the teller window. She's seen what that role looks like when it's valued, and she's spent years as a practitioner trying to figure out how to rebuild some of that in institutions where the teller role has shifted into something almost unrecognizable. This is not a conversation about blame. It's a conversation about what we've inherited, what we're still questioning, and what we could do differently. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why Jen's mom's career as a teller, and the pride she took in that role, is the lens for this entire conversationHow teller performance metrics in banking have shifted from relationship quality to sales and efficiency, and what that costs us in fraud preventionA real wire fraud scenario that shows exactly what happens when a teller has a bad feeling but no clear authority or path to act on itWhy the authorized versus unauthorized distinction misses the coercion behind authorized push payment scamsWhat tellers can see that transaction monitoring systems miss, including behavioral fraud signals, coached customer body language, and vague answers to routine questionsWhy Jen sent a $35,000 wire she knew was fraud early in her career, and what changed after thatWhat a direct escalation path to the fraud team actually needs to look like, and why ticketing systems are not enoughWhy prevented scam losses should count as strongly as product referrals on a teller scorecardWhat a senior teller career path and frontline fraud specialist role could actually look likeThe phrase you should keep in your pocket for any frontline employee dealing with a suspicious transaction You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud or risk and want to understand what the career teller in banking brings to your fraud prevention program that your systems cannot replicateLead a branch, manage frontline staff, or set teller performance metrics and want to know whether your scorecards are creating conflict between service speed and teller scam detectionAre trying to build a better escalation path between your frontline and your fraud teamWant practical, actionable recommendations you can bring back to your institution this weekHave ever seen a scam succeed because the teller had the right instinct and no room to act on itAre building a fraud ambassador program or a senior teller fraud specialist role and want a framework for thinking through itCare about the human cost of fraud and want to hear a conversation about it from people who have sat with those losses

    More than a transaction: What Happened to the Career Teller?

  2. Aug 12

    How Vault.Bank launched digital banking without launching fraud

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Community banks know they need digital transformation in banking to stay competitive. They also know one bad launch can overwhelm a fraud team, frustrate customers, and torch years of trust. So today we're going beyond the headline case study to unpack how one community bank actually pulled it off. I'm joined by Omar Hamden, Chief Experience Officer at Vault.Bank, and Jorge Garcia, CEO of Linker Finance, to talk about how a 120-year-old community bank in Broadhead, Wisconsin turned itself into a digital brand, without opening the door to the fraud everyone assumes comes with it. Omar didn’t want a system that approved everyone or treated every customer like a suspect. He wanted risk-based account opening that could actually tell the difference, and it worked. Fraud losses in digital banking at Vault have stayed close to zero since launch, with onboarding now taking about three minutes, funding included. Most banks assume digital growth means a bigger fraud team. Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with two people. That's it. No army of analysts, just the right core banking integration and automation in place from day one. Jorge breaks down why vendor selection for community bank leaders, not the technology, is usually the real blocker for community banks trying to launch digitally, and how Linker built a turnkey approach so Vault didn't have to stitch together a dozen point solutions on its own. The numbers back all of it up. Vault grew deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate, and customer retention rate sits close to 90%. If your institution is weighing a digital brand launch in community banking, this digital banking case study is the one to send to your board. What you'll hear in this episode:How Vault.Bank and Linker Finance came together to launch a digital-only brand for a community bank under $300 million in assets.Why risk-based account opening matters more than trying to hit zero fraud alerts.How identity verification and KYC digital onboarding got built to satisfy auditors without slowing down real customers.Why Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with a team of two people, and how core banking integration and automated decisioning make that possible.How vendor selection for community bank leaders became the real blocker in digital brand launches, more than the technology itself.The deposit growth strategies for banks that helped Vault grow deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate.Why customer retention rate matters just as much as acquisition, and how nearly 90% retention changed the growth conversation.What's next as Vault plans national digital banking expansion beyond Wisconsin. Who should listen:Community bank leaders considering a digital brand launch in community banking.Fraud and risk professionals evaluating fraud losses in digital banking and looking for real, verifiable numbers.Bank executives weighing vendor selection for community bank technology partnerships.Anyone curious how lean fraud team operations actually work without a large analyst team.Community banks exploring small business lending and neobank technology in community banks as growth levers.Boards and leadership teams trying to build the business case for bank compliance automation and best of breed banking technology.

    How Vault.Bank launched digital banking without launching fraud

  3. Aug 5

    Trust is under attack: Inside the world of deepfakes, with Andrew Austin

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode opens a little differently. And if you are not paying close attention, you will probably believe it was me. It sounds like me, it looks like me, but every bit of it is a deepfake created with artificial intelligence in about twenty minutes for less than five dollars. That is not a future threat. That is today. Andrew Austin is one of my favorite people to talk to because he does not do hype. He spends a lot of time exploring where emerging technology meets fraud risk. And this is one of the most practical conversations I have had on the show. We are not here to scare anyone. We are here to make sure fraud fighters understand exactly what they are up against and how organizations need to start thinking differently about deepfake fraud and AI voice cloning. We walk through the full landscape of deepfake technology together, from voice cloning to live face swapping to lip sync. We talk about what each one costs, how convincing each one is, and where criminals are already using deepfake scams today. Andrew breaks down why identity verification is the most vulnerable point for financial institutions right now, why real time detection of AI-generated content is still an unsolved problem, and why fraudsters do not need Hollywood quality deepfakes to be effective. They just need to be convincing enough. We do not stop at the threat. We spend the second half of the conversation talking about defenses, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, consortium data, friction design, and why employee awareness and organizational culture still matter as much as any technology investment. Andrew also shares what excites him about where AI is headed on the fraud fighting side, and what he thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraud. Fraud has always been built on manipulating trust. AI does not change that. It just gives criminals a far more convincing disguise. What you’ll hear in this episode:How Andrew created a convincing deepfake in twenty minutes for less than five dollars, and what that means for fraud teamsThe difference between voice cloning, live face swapping, and lip sync technology, and the distinct fraud risk each one createsWhy deepfake scams do not need to be perfect to work, and how criminals are already exploiting that realityWhere financial institutions are most vulnerable to AI-generated content right now, and why onboarding and IDV top the listWhy real time detection of AI-generated video content is still not a solved problemHow device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and consortium data work together to close the gaps IDV alone cannot coverWhy employee awareness and organizational culture are just as important as any technology investmentWhat Andrew thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraudWhere AI is creating real operational efficiency gains on the fraud fighting side, and why Andrew is genuinely excited about it You should listen to this episode if you:Lead fraud, risk, compliance, or financial crimes at a bank, credit union, fintech, or neobankAre responsible for identity verification, onboarding design, or authentication strategyWant a practical, non-sensational breakdown of what deepfake scams and AI voice cloning actually look like todayAre building or updating your fraud program and want to understand where AI fraud risk fits into your existing controlsAre new to fraud and want to understand how emerging technology is reshaping what fraud fighters need to know

    Trust is under attack: Inside the world of deepfakes, with Andrew Austin

  4. Jul 29

    Breaking down silos at the ACFE global fraud conference

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! I always say fraud is a team sport, and this episode is exactly why. I recorded these conversations live from the ACFE fraud conference in Boston, sitting down with five fraud fighters who each bring a completely different piece of the puzzle. Law enforcement. Banking. Government. Fintech. BSA. Investigations. Every single one of them came back to the same point: we cannot fight fraud alone, and the silos we work in are one of the biggest advantages we are handing to fraudsters. Marc Evans opened the conversation by making the case that fraud analyst training has to be rooted in real cases, not theory. Linda Miller followed with one of the most honest takes of the day: the organizations waiting for regulatory guidance before building their AI governance frameworks are already behind. Tracy Swaim added something I had never heard framed so cleanly, that document fraud is a context problem, not a technology problem. And Dustin Eaton brought it back to the data: clean, collective information is the edge, and fraudsters are counting on us not having it. Jen Lamont closed it out with a reminder that hit close to home. For every fraud fighter who cannot make it to a conference like this, the knowledge is still out there. Podcasts, white papers, LinkedIn, local and international fraud associations. This community is one of the most generous there is. And if there is one thing I took away from all five conversations, it is this: fraudsters share everything with each other. Until we do the same, we are always playing catch-up. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why the ACFE fraud conference brings together fraud fighters from banking, government, law enforcement, fintech, and investigations under one roofHow cross-sector fraud prevention helps organizations identify emerging threats fasterWhy breaking silos in fraud is one of the biggest opportunities facing our industry right nowWhat Marc Evans has learned training new fraud analysts using real investigations and holistic case dataWhy AI governance is outpacing organizational readiness, and what Linda Miller says financial institutions should do before regulations catch upHow Tracy Swaim reframes document fraud detection around interrogating context rather than authenticating the document itselfWhy clean and connected data is the foundation of effective AI-driven fraud prevention, according to Dustin EatonHow Jen Lamont approaches fraud analyst training, mentorship, and continuous learning for fraud teams at every levelCareer advice for new fraud fighters from five professionals who have built careers across every corner of this industry You should listen to this episode if you:Attend fraud conferences and want practical ideas you can bring back to your teamLead a fraud, investigations, risk, or financial crimes program and want to strengthen cross-sector fraud preventionAre responsible for fraud analyst training or new fraud analyst onboardingWant to understand how AI governance and deepfake document fraud are reshaping the threat landscapeAre early in your fraud career and want honest advice from professionals across banking, government, law enforcement, and fintech

    Breaking down silos at the ACFE global fraud conference

  5. Jul 22

    The reverse card: Live from ACFE

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! This episode is a little different, and honestly, a lot of fun. We recorded this one live from the ACFE conference while playing a game of Uno. And if you've worked in fraud long enough, you already know why that felt like the perfect setup. Just when you think you've figured everything out, someone throws down a reverse card, the rules change, and suddenly you're solving a completely different problem. Joining me are three incredible fraud leaders: Karen Boyer, Steve Lenderman, and Jen Lamont. What starts as a lighthearted game quickly turns into a candid conversation about some of the biggest questions facing fraud teams today. From agentic AI fraud and synthetic identity fraud to fraud leadership, analyst development, scam prevention, and where human expertise still matters most. One thing I loved about this conversation is that there was no script. Just practitioners sharing honest opinions about what's changing, what's overhyped, and what they believe will define the next generation of fraud prevention. What you'll hear in this episode:Why agentic AI fraud could reshape the future of synthetic identity fraudThe growing risks surrounding synthetic agents fraud and autonomous digital identitiesWhy human in the loop AI remains critical for fraud preventionWhether AI should investigate alerts or focus on SAR automationThe future role of fraud analysts in an AI-driven industryWhy check fraud continues to frustrate fraud professionalsThe value of networking, mentorship, and industry collaboration You should listen to this episode if you:Lead a fraud prevention, investigations, risk, or financial crimes team and want to hear how other practitioners are thinking about agentic AI fraud and the future of the industry.Are exploring how AI in fraud, machine learning fraud detection, and fraud detection automation can improve operations without losing the value of human expertise.Want a practical discussion on synthetic identity fraud, synthetic agents fraud, and the next generation fraud threats that financial institutions should be preparing for.Are evaluating where human in the loop AI, AI fraud alert triage, AI writing SARs, and SAR automation fit into your fraud program—and where human judgment should remain at the center.Enjoy candid conversations between experienced fraud professionals on leadership, analyst development, fraud education, and the real challenges shaping modern fraud prevention.

    The reverse card: Live from ACFE

  6. Jul 15

    Beyond the Button: Investigating fraud in the age of agentic payments

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Over the last few months, I've had more conversations about agentic payments than just about any other topic. At conferences, on webinars, and in discussions with some of the smartest people in payments, compliance, and fraud, one thing has become clear to me: I think we're asking the wrong question. Most people want to know whether AI will start moving money. The question I keep coming back to is this: How do fraud teams investigate transactions when software starts making decisions? In this solo episode, I pull together insights from recent conversations with Matt Vega, Mary Ann Miller, and Matt Janiga to explore what agentic commerce really means for fraud investigations, SAR reporting, and the future of financial crime investigations. We talk about why traditional fraud models have always assumed a human initiated the payment, why that assumption no longer holds, and what investigators will need to understand when AI agents begin making decisions on behalf of customers. The technology may be changing, but the principles of good fraud prevention are not. Documentation, audit trails, authority management, explainability, and strong transaction monitoring will become even more important as agentic payments move from theory to reality. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why agentic payments are fundamentally different from traditional payment automation.How agentic commerce changes the way fraud teams investigate payment fraud.Why audit trails, attribution, and explainability will become essential during fraud investigations.How SAR reporting and AML investigations may evolve as AI becomes part of the payment decision process.Why regulators are focused on enabling innovation safely instead of slowing it down.The three questions every fraud investigator should begin asking today to prepare for the future. You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud prevention, AML compliance, investigations, or financial crime.File suspicious activity reports or conduct SAR reporting.Lead fraud operations, transaction monitoring, or payment investigations.Are evaluating how AI and agentic commerce will affect your institution.Want practical steps your team can begin implementing today instead of waiting for the rulebook to catch up.

    Beyond the Button: Investigating fraud in the age of agentic payments

  7. Jul 8

    Inside Deconflict: Bridging Law Enforcement and Banking

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! In this episode, I’m sitting down with Mudassar Malik, Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and Founder and CEO of Deconflict.com, to talk about something our industry needs to get a whole lot better at: financial crime deconflict. Money mule networks do not care where one institution’s visibility ends and another one begins. Pig butchering scams, romance scams, business email compromise, BEC fraud, account takeover, wire fraud, they all move across people, accounts, institutions, platforms, and jurisdictions. Meanwhile, too many of us are still trying to solve pieces of the same case from opposite sides of the wall. Mudassar walks us through what happens when law enforcement and banking actually have a better way to connect investigative intelligence, share what they are seeing, and recognize when different teams may be looking at the same financial crime pattern from different angles. This episode is not about sharing everything with everybody. It is about better fraud response, better financial crime intelligence, and better collaboration between the people who are already fighting the same criminal networks. Because if a credit union, a community bank, a larger institution, and law enforcement are all seeing pieces of the same mule activity, but nobody can connect those pieces fast enough, the criminals keep moving. And the victims keep paying for it. What you’ll hear in this episode: Why financial crime deconflict matters for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and law enforcementHow the Deconflict platform helps connect investigative intelligence across financial crime casesWhy money mule networks, pig butchering scams, romance scams, and BEC fraud require cross-institutional visibilityWhere 314(b)d information sharing fits into the larger fraud response conversationWhy financial institution fraud prevention cannot stop at the edge of one institution’s dataHow law enforcement data sharing can help fraud fighters move from isolated cases to connected intelligenceWhat teams can take back to think differently about collaboration and case escalation You should listen to this episode if you:Work in fraud, BSA, AML, investigations, or financial crime intelligence at a bank or credit unionAre trying to improve financial institution fraud prevention without adding more disconnected alertsSupport fraud response for scams, mule activity, business email compromise, or suspicious account movementWant a better way to think about law enforcement data sharing and investigative collaboration

    Inside Deconflict: Bridging Law Enforcement and Banking

  8. Jul 1

    From Liability to Visibility: The Real Story Behind NACHA Phase 2

    What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward! Today we are talking about ACH compliance, and I know that may not sound like the most exciting opener in the world, but if you work in fraud, payments, operations, compliance, treasury, management, or anywhere near ACH this matters because ACH is one of the most widely used payment rails in the country. And when something goes wrong, it doesn’t just stay contained to one team. It impacts customers, creates operational strain, introduces regulatory risk, and can expose gaps in how your institution detects and responds to fraud. Over the last few months, I have had conversation after conversation with fraud leaders at community banks and credit unions who are asking the same questions. Do we need new technology? Are we expected to monitor every ACH transaction in real time? What exactly are examiners going to expect from us? And if your head has been spinning a little bit, I want you to hear me on this: you are not alone. This episode is about the real story behind NACHA Phase 2. And to me, the real story is not that every institution needs to run out and buy another fraud platform. The real story is that ACH compliance is becoming a much more intentional conversation. It is about knowing your risk, documenting your processes, understanding who owns what, and being able to explain why your institution monitors ACH fraud the way that it does. I actually think that is a good thing. Because for too long, our industry has leaned on liability as the finish line. If we are not liable, it is not really our problem. And technically, maybe sometimes that has been true. But operationally, ethically, and from a fraud fighter perspective, that has never sat well with me. Fraud does not live in silos. Neither should ACH fraud prevention. What you’ll hear in this episode:Why NACHA Phase 2 is about intentionality, not just technologyWhat changed in the final Nacha ACH rules and why that flexibility matters How ACH compliance applies to community banks and credit unions now in scopeWhy layered controls do not always mean buying another vendor solution How false pretenses fit into ACH fraud detection and ACH fraud prevention Why RDFI compliance and ODFI compliance require clear ownership across teamsWhat examiners may expect when reviewing your ACH compliance programFive questions every institution should ask about ACH fraud documentation You should listen to this episode if:You work in fraud operations, payments compliance, ACH operations, BSA, AML, or treasury managementYour institution is working through NACHA Phase 2 implementationYou are trying to understand ACH examiner expectations without overbuilding your programYou serve a community bank or credit union and need practical ACH compliance guidanceYou want to move from a liability mindset to a visibility mindset in payments fraud If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and review the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    From Liability to Visibility: The Real Story Behind NACHA Phase 2
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

Fraud Forward is a banking-focused podcast bringing together fraud fighters, risk leaders, and financial crime experts to explore how fraud is evolving, and how financial institutions must adapt. Each episode features practical, candid conversations with teams in the trenches, covering strategy, governance, prevention, and recovery. Rather than chasing headlines, Fraud Forward focuses on what’s working, what’s changing, and what fraud leaders need to prepare for as financial crime accelerates. This is where banking comes together to challenge assumptions, pressure-test controls, and move fraud forward.

Information

  • Creator
    Hailey Windham
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    116
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Hailey Windham
  • Show Website
    Fraud Forward

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