“The scammer was extraordinarily believable,” Kim Sawyer, a former university professor in Melbourne, said. “He had a British accent, used all the right financial market terms and knew how to induce us by appearing credible every time.”
The Sawyers are not an isolated case.
Using sophisticated cyber-tools, artificial intelligence and impersonation techniques, scammers trapped in centres across Southeast Asia have been defrauding victims of their savings for billions of dollars. [AP1] [LG2] .
The victims that scammers target are all over the world and, in many cases, highly educated: the Sawyers both have master’s degrees and are experienced stock market investors.
Partnerships against organised fraud
Though scams are becoming increasingly global, the response to these crimes is also becoming transnational.
Governments, law enforcement agencies, private companies and civil society were…
Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.