It may be hard to believe, but for many U.S. banks the largest source of fraud losses in 2024 was from… check fraud. Checks may be a decidedly old-school payment instrument, but they remain a popular one, with billions issued each year and frequent use for high-dollar payments.

Building on skills they developed during the pandemic, crime rings behind check fraud are deploying sophisticated counterfeit techniques, along with the use of insiders at postal services and financial institutions. The end result - check fraud is running wild in 2024.

Countering this fraud surge is not easy for banks. Check fraud detection systems produce a massive amount of daily alerts at a high false positive rate, and the fraud team needs to investigate quickly and make tough choices on a daily basis.

Why is this fraud wave happening now? Why is detection difficult? What’s the source of the gap between detection and prevention, and what are banks trying to do to close it? In this lively conversation on the Financial CrimeCast, we speak with Uri Rivner, CEO and Co-Founder of Refine Intelligence, to explore these questions and get answers on how institutions can put a dent in check fraud’s unwelcome resurgence.

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