Online fraud is highly disruptive, and can have a painful financial and emotional impact on people. Google is committed to tackling this challenge head-on. As part of that effort, this week, experts from across government, technology, consumer groups and academia are gathering in Zurich for the second EMEA Anti-Scams and Fraud Summit, hosted by the Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC). The goal is simple but ambitious: Strengthen the collective action needed to disrupt today’s sophisticated scams.
To support this mission, we’re building AI-driven protections into the products you use every day and collaborating across the industry and with the authorities to stay ahead of fraudsters. Here are five ways we are working to keep you safer from scams and fraud:
1. Using AI-powered tools as the first line of defense
While scammers are using AI for nefarious purposes, we’re using it for…
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PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.