Fraudsters are more than just shadowy figures lurking on the dark web. They can be small-time crooks or part of a large, international ring. During International Fraud Awareness Week, I sat down with Ashley McAlpine, TMG’s fraud prevention manager, to discuss the latest technologies, scams and traps fraudsters are deploying today.

Ashley described how large institutions are not always fraudsters’ primary targets. Smaller-scale institutions can be equally vulnerable. Fraud rings use sophisticated technology that scans for insecure systems. Think of it as someone driving around the neighborhood looking to jump on an open WiFi network. Once fraudsters find an open system, they enter it. They don’t differentiate between, say, a major Internet company and a credit union. Both house the valuable data they’re after.

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