The Crackdown on Shell Companies and the Role of Technology
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The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2020, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2021 of the US in January this year, had many key provisions to take the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in the country to the next level. The disclosure of Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO), targeted to curb shell companies, is one among them and is widely regarded as a game-changer in the country’s fight against financial crimes. The new law comes at a time when the US remains one of the easiest places to set up an anonymous shell company, according to research from the University of Texas and Brigham Young University in Australia.
The situation is no different in many countries where people can create untraceable shell companies that are used to give and receive bribes, launder money, evade taxes and circumvent sanctions easily by spending a few hundred dollars. In fact, many jurisdictions have acted to address the problem and the world is awaiting good results. Here, we look to dive deep into the problem of shell companies, notable actions against them and the ways in which technology can help.
What are Shell Companies?
The US Securities Act defines a shell company as “a company, other than an asset-backed issuer, with no or nominal operations; and either: 1) no or nominal assets/assets consisting of cash and cash equivalents; or 2) assets consisting of any amount of cash and cash equivalents and nominal other assets." Shell companies are created for the purpose of diverting money or for money laundering. Some notable characteristics of most shell companies are:
- They conduct almost no economic activity. They do not manufacture goods or render any service.
- They are primarily used to make transactions, acting only in a pass-through capacity and facilitating cross border currency and asset transfer.
- Their banking transactions often do not have any economic rationale. They tend to make high-value transactions that are in no connection with the operations of the business.
- They have assets only on paper and not in real terms.
- They do not have any or insignificant physical existence at their registered addresses.
The ‘Real’ Intentions Behind Shell Companies
The following are the major reasons why people create shell companies. They are often interlinked with one another.
- Evading taxes: Shell companies are created by corporations at offshore locations, often called tax havens, where taxes are less, to park assets to evade high taxes within their home country.
- Laundering money: Shell companies are often used to store black money or ill-gotten money or channels to obscure the origin of such money.
- Hiding money off Ponzi Schemes: Criminals may create shell companies to divert money earned from Ponzi schemes. When the fraud is found, the real culprits are not identified, and the law enforcement agencies have only shell companies before them to put the blame on.
- Hiding identities of actual owners: In most cases, the real owner/owners of an offshore shell company cannot be located as the registered addresses of the directors is completely different from the address submitted to the registrar.
Notable Governmental Actions against Shell Companies (Other than the US)
In a survey conducted by think tank Transparency International, only seven out of the 47 countries have central beneficial ownership registers which are publicly available with no restrictions, while 17 countries have no central register at all including key economies like Australia, Canada and the US (at the time of the survey). Here are some of the notable actions taken by various governments with regard to beneficial ownership information.
- India: On 14th September 2020, India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the sharing of data and information with each other on an automatic and regular basis “to curb the menace of shell companies, money laundering and black money in the country and prevent misuse of corporate structure by shell companies for various illegal purposes."
- UK: The UK launched its beneficial ownership register as the Persons with significant control (PSC) Register in April 2016. In January 2021, the UK government announced that all inhabited UK Overseas Territories, including the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, committed to adopting publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership.
- Europe: The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) mandated member states to introduce beneficial ownership registers that may be accessible to persons with a legitimate interest by 2017. Further, the Fifth and Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directives (5AMLD and 6AMLD) reiterated the block’s stance on registers and the extended timeline for member states that have yet to implement.
- Singapore: In June 2019, the Monetary Authority of Singapore released a framework to detect and mitigate the risk from misuse of Legal persons.
FATF Best Practices to Curb Shell Companies
In 2003, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) became the first international agency to set global standards on beneficial ownership reporting requirements. It mandated countries to ensure that their authorities could obtain up-to-date and accurate information about the person/persons behind companies and foundations and other legal persons. Later in 2012, 2014 and 2019, the FATF strengthened and clarified its beneficial ownership requirements further.
The following are the best practices suggested by FATF in its paper published in October 2019.
- Use of one or more mechanisms (the Registry Approach, the Company Approach and the Existing Information Approach) to ensure that information on the beneficial ownership of a company is obtained by that company and available at a specified location in their country; or can be otherwise determined in a timely manner by a competent authority
- A multi-pronged approach using several sources of information is often more effective in preventing the misuse of legal persons for criminal purposes and implementing measures that make the beneficial ownership of legal persons sufficiently transparent.
- Increased sharing of relevant information and transaction records would benefit global efforts to improve the transparency of beneficial ownership.
- Build an effective system with key features such as:
- Risk assessment
- Adequacy, accuracy and timeliness of information in beneficial ownership
- Access by competent authorities
- Forbidding or immobilising bearer shares and nominee arrangements
- Effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions
Implementation Risks and Red Flags for Financial Institutions
While the above recommendations would help government agencies to curtail the growth of shell companies, their implementation is a challenging task for countries. According to FATF, the common challenges in implementing beneficial ownership measures are:
- Inadequate risk assessment of possible misuse of legal persons
- Inadequate measures to ensure information is accurate and up to date
- Inadequate mechanisms to ensure competent authorities had timely access to information
- Lack of effective sanctions on companies that fail to provide accurate information
- Inadequate mechanisms for monitoring the quality of assistance received from other countries
From the perspective of financial institutions, with which shell companies open their accounts and conduct transactions, what is important is to have a modern solution that can identify red flags related to shell companies and accurately alert staff on the same. Some common red flags are:
- The disproportionately high velocity of transactions
- The complexity of financial transactions
- Unusual patterns in dealings (eg. transfer of financial assets to a new company that has no liabilities or wire transactions and activity history that do not match the company profile)
- High-risk or sanctioned regimes country of registration or operation
- Adverse media about the shell company or its directors
- Any director on watchlists
- Involvement with agents or more firms of similar nature
- Connection with high-risk customers
- Transactions with entities sharing the same address of the shell company
- Variety of beneficiaries receiving wire transfers
How Modern Technology Can Help Identify Shell Companies
In most instances, shell companies cannot be identified manually. However, with active use of modern technology and automation, financial institutions can track and monitor these firms, conduct investigations and report suspicious activities to the regulators. Here are some of the techniques financial institutions can use to ensure compliance.
- Customer Risk Assessment: At the time of onboarding, financial institutions need to assess multiple risk factors such as negative jurisdictions, the same registered address with different owners and inclusion in watchlists. A system should be in place to provide a single holistic overview of customer risk, removing the need to consult multiple sources of profile. Each customer should have a risk score based on the initial assessment. Significant risk profile changes need to be captured dynamically throughout the customer lifecycle.
- Transaction Monitoring: The transactions of the company should be compared with customer activity assessed at the time of onboarding with the help of modern tools. Transaction analysis tools should provide alerts in case of deviations in actual transactions from anticipated customer activity.
- Screening: Shell companies and their owners should be constantly screened against PEP lists, sanctions lists and adverse media among others.
Modern technologies such as machine learning and Big Data analytics can be effective tools for financial institutions to help identify shell companies and prevent their illegal activities. Specifically, modern solutions equipped with network analysis, deep learning, anomaly detection, natural language processing can assist compliance staff get superior results in their hunt for shell companies.
Tookitaki’s end-to-end AML operating system, the Anti-Money Laundering Suite (AMLS), powered by AML Federated Knowledge Base is intended to identify hard-to-detect money laundering techniques including shell companies. Available as a modular service across the three pillars of AML activity – Transaction Monitoring, AML Screening for names, payments and transactions and Customer Risk Scoring – the AI-powered solution has the following features to aid in the detection of shell companies.
- AI-powered detection of interactions and network relationships between customers or interested parties to flag suspicious activity
- World’s biggest repository of AML typologies providing real-world AML red flags to keep our underlying machine learning detection model updated with the latest money laundering techniques across the globe.
- Advanced data analytics and dynamic segmentation to detect unusual patterns in transactions
- Risk scoring based on matching with watchlist databases or adverse media
- Visibility on customer linkages and related scores to provide a 360-degree network overview
- Constantly updating risk scoring which learns from incremental data changes
Learn More: Compliance Challenges for Payment Companies
Our solution has been proven to be highly accurate in identifying high-risk customers and transactions. For more details of our AMLS solution and its ability to identify shell companies among other money laundering techniques, please contact us.
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Cracking Down Under: How Australia Is Fighting Back Against Fraud
Fraud in Australia has moved beyond stolen credit cards, today’s threats are smarter, faster, and often one step ahead.
Australia is facing a new wave of financial fraud—complex scams, cyber-enabled deception, and social engineering techniques that prey on trust. From sophisticated investment frauds to deepfake impersonations, criminals are evolving rapidly. And so must our fraud prevention strategies.
This blog explores how fraud is impacting Australia, what new methods criminals are using, and how financial institutions, businesses, and individuals can stay ahead of the game. Whether you're in compliance, fintech, banking, or just a concerned citizen, fraud prevention is everyone’s business.
The Fraud Landscape in Australia: A Wake-Up Call
In 2024 alone, Australians lost over AUD 2.7 billion to scams, according to data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The Scamwatch program reported an alarming rise in phishing, investment scams, identity theft, and fake billing.
A few alarming trends:
- Investment scams accounted for over AUD 1.3 billion in losses.
- Business email compromise (BEC) and invoice fraud targeted SMEs.
- Romance and remote access scams exploited personal vulnerability.
- Deepfake scams and AI-generated impersonations are on the rise, particularly targeting executives and finance teams.
The fraud threat has gone digital, cross-border, and real-time. Traditional controls alone are no longer enough.
Why Fraud Prevention Is a National Priority
Fraud isn't just a financial issue—it’s a matter of public trust. When scams go undetected, victims don’t just lose money—they lose faith in financial institutions, government systems, and digital innovation.
Here’s why fraud prevention is now top of mind in Australia:
- Real-time payments mean real-time risks: With the rise of the New Payments Platform (NPP), funds can move across banks instantly. This has increased the urgency to detect and prevent fraud in milliseconds—not days.
- Rise in money mule networks: Criminal groups are exploiting students, gig workers, and the elderly to launder stolen funds.
- Increased regulatory pressure: AUSTRAC and ASIC are putting more pressure on institutions to identify and report suspicious activities more proactively.
Common Fraud Techniques Seen in Australia
Understanding how fraud works is the first step to preventing it. Here are some of the most commonly observed fraud techniques:
a) Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Fraudsters impersonate vendors, CEOs, or finance officers to divert funds through fake invoices or urgent payment requests. This is especially dangerous for SMEs.
b) Investment Scams
Fake trading platforms, crypto Ponzi schemes, and fraudulent real estate investments have tricked thousands. Often, these scams use fake celebrity endorsements or “guaranteed returns” to lure victims.
c) Romance and Sextortion Scams
These scams manipulate victims emotionally, often over weeks or months, before asking for money. Some even involve blackmail using fake or stolen intimate content.
d) Deepfake Impersonation
Using AI-generated voice or video, scammers are impersonating real people to initiate fund transfers or manipulate staff into giving away sensitive information.
e) Synthetic Identity Fraud
Criminals use a blend of real and fake information to create a new, ‘clean’ identity that can bypass onboarding checks at banks and fintechs.
Regulatory Push for Smarter Controls
Regulators in Australia are stepping up their efforts:
- AUSTRAC has introduced updated guidance for transaction monitoring and suspicious matter reporting, pushing institutions to adopt more adaptive, risk-based approaches.
- ASIC is cracking down on investment scams and calling for platforms to implement stricter identity and payment verification systems.
- The ACCC’s National Anti-Scam Centre launched a multi-agency initiative to disrupt scam operations through intelligence sharing and faster response times.
But even regulators acknowledge: compliance alone won't stop fraud. Prevention needs smarter tools, better collaboration, and real-time intelligence.
A New Approach: Proactive, AI-Powered Fraud Prevention
The most forward-thinking banks and fintechs in Australia are moving from reactive to proactive fraud prevention. Here's what the shift looks like:
✅ Real-Time Transaction Monitoring
Instead of relying on static rules, modern systems use machine learning to flag suspicious behaviour—like unusual payment patterns, high-risk geographies, or rapid account-to-account transfers.
✅ Behavioural Analytics
Understanding what ‘normal’ looks like for each user helps detect anomalies fast—like a customer suddenly logging in from a new country or making a large transfer outside business hours.
✅ AI Copilots for Investigators
Tools like AI-powered investigation assistants can help analysts triage alerts faster, recommend next steps, and even generate narrative summaries for suspicious activity reports.
✅ Community Intelligence
Fraudsters often reuse tactics across institutions. Platforms like Tookitaki’s AFC Ecosystem allow banks to share anonymised fraud scenarios and red flags—so everyone can learn and defend together.
✅ Federated Learning Models
These models allow banks to collaborate on fraud detection algorithms without sharing customer data—bringing the power of collective intelligence without compromising privacy.
Fraud Prevention Best Practices for Australian Institutions
Whether you're a Tier-1 bank or a growing fintech, these best practices are critical:
- Prioritise real-time fraud detection tools that work across payment channels and digital platforms.
- Train your teams—fraudsters are exploiting human error more than technical flaws.
- Invest in explainable AI to build trust with regulators and internal stakeholders.
- Use layered defences: Combine transaction monitoring, device fingerprinting, behavioural analytics, and biometric verification.
- Collaborate across the ecosystem—join industry platforms, share intel, and learn from others.
How Tookitaki Supports Fraud Prevention in Australia
Tookitaki is helping Australian institutions stay ahead of fraud by combining advanced AI with collective intelligence. Our FinCense platform offers:
- End-to-end fraud and AML detection across transactions, customers, and devices.
- Federated learning that enables risk detection with insights contributed by a global network of financial crime experts.
- Smart investigation tools to reduce alert fatigue and speed up response times.
The Role of Public Awareness in Prevention
It’s not just institutions—customers play a key role too. Public campaigns like Scamwatch, educational content from banks, and media coverage of fraud trends all contribute to prevention.
Simple actions like verifying sender details, avoiding suspicious links, and reporting scam attempts can go a long way. In the fight against fraud, awareness is the first line of defence.
Conclusion: Staying Ahead in a Smarter Fraud Era
Fraud prevention in Australia can no longer be treated as an afterthought. The threats are too advanced, too fast, and too costly.
With the right mix of technology, collaboration, and education, Australia can stay ahead of financial criminals—and turn the tide in favour of consumers, businesses, and institutions alike.
Whether it’s adopting AI tools, sharing threat insights, or empowering individuals, fraud prevention is no longer optional. It’s the new frontline of trust.
The CEO Wasn’t Real: Inside Singapore’s $499K Deepfake Video Scam
In March 2025, a finance director at a multinational firm in Singapore authorised a US$499,000 payment during what appeared to be a Zoom call with the company’s senior leadership. There was just one problem: none of the people on the call were real.
What seemed like a routine virtual meeting turned out to be a highly orchestrated deepfake scam, where cybercriminals used artificial intelligence to impersonate the company’s Chief Financial Officer and other top executives. The finance director, believing the request was genuine, wired nearly half a million dollars to a fraudulent account.
The incident has sent shockwaves across the financial and corporate world, underscoring the fast-evolving threat of deepfake technology.
Background of the Scam
According to Singapore police reports, the finance executive received a message from someone posing as the company’s UK-based CFO. The message requested an urgent fund transfer to facilitate a confidential acquisition. To build credibility, the fraudster set up a Zoom call — featuring multiple senior executives, all appearing and sounding authentic.
But the entire video call was fabricated using deepfake technology.
These weren’t just stolen profile photos; they were AI-generated likenesses with synced facial movements and realistic voices, mimicking actual executives. The finance director, seeing what seemed like familiar faces and hearing familiar voices, followed through with the transfer.
Only later did the company realise that the actual executives had never been on the call.
What the Case Revealed
This wasn’t just another phishing email or spoofed WhatsApp message. This was next-level digital deception. Here’s what made it chillingly effective:
- Multi-party deepfake execution – The fraud involved several synthetic identities, all rendered convincingly in real-time to simulate a legitimate boardroom environment.
- High-level impersonation – Senior figures like the CFO were cloned with accurate visual and vocal characteristics, heightening the illusion of authority and urgency.
- Deeply contextual manipulation – The scam leveraged business context (e.g. M&A activity, board-level communications) that suggested insider knowledge.
Singapore’s police reported this as one of the most convincing cases of AI-powered impersonation seen to date — and issued a national warning to corporations and finance professionals.
Impact on Financial Institutions and Corporates
While the fraud targeted one company, its implications ripple across the entire financial system:
Deepfake Fatigue and Trust Erosion
When even video calls are no longer trustworthy, confidence in digital communication takes a hit. This undermines both internal decision-making and external client relationships.
CFOs and Finance Teams in the Crosshairs
Finance and treasury teams are prime targets for scams like this. These professionals are expected to act fast, handle large sums, and follow instructions from the top — making them vulnerable to high-pressure frauds.
Breakdown of Traditional Verification
Emails, video calls, and even voice confirmations can be falsified. Without secondary verification protocols, companies remain dangerously exposed.
Lessons Learned from the Scam
The Singapore deepfake case isn’t an outlier — it’s a glimpse into the future of financial crime. Key takeaways:
- Always Verify High-Value Requests
Especially those involving new accounts or cross-border transfers. A secondary channel of verification — via phone or an encrypted app — is now a must. - Educate Senior Leadership
Executives need to be aware that their digital identities can be hijacked. Regular briefings on impersonation risks are essential. - Adopt Real-Time Behavioural Monitoring
Advanced analytics can flag abnormal transaction patterns — even when the request appears “approved” by an authority figure. - Invest in Deepfake Detection Tools
There are now software solutions that scan video content for artefacts, inconsistencies, or signs of AI manipulation. - Strengthen Internal Protocols
Critical payment workflows should always require multi-party authorisation, escalation logic, and documented rationale.
The Role of Technology in Prevention
Scams like this are designed to outsmart conventional defences. A new kind of defence is required — one that adapts in real-time and learns from emerging threats.
This is where Tookitaki’s compliance platform, FinCense, plays a vital role.
Powered by the AFC Ecosystem and Agentic AI:
- Typology-Driven Detection: FinCense continuously updates its detection logic based on real-world scam scenarios contributed by financial crime experts worldwide.
- AI-Powered Simulation: Institutions can simulate deepfake-driven fraud scenarios to test and refine their internal controls.
- Federated Learning: Risk signals and red flags from across institutions are shared securely without compromising sensitive data.
- Smart Case Disposition: Agentic AI reviews and narrates alerts, allowing compliance officers to respond faster and with greater clarity — even in complex scams like this.
Moving Forward: Facing the Synthetic Threat Landscape
Deepfake technology has moved from the realm of novelty to real-world risk. The Singapore incident is a wake-up call for companies across ASEAN and beyond.
When identity can be faked in real-time, and fraudsters learn faster than regulators, the only defence is to stay ahead — with intelligence, collaboration, and next-generation tech.
Because next time, the CEO might not be real, but the money lost will be.
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The Rising Cost of AML Compliance in Australia: Can Smarter Tools Reduce the Burden?
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance in Australia has never been more critical — or more expensive.
As regulatory scrutiny increases and financial crime becomes more complex, financial institutions are under pressure to spend more time, money, and resources just to keep up.
But is this sustainable? And is there a smarter way to stay compliant without letting costs spiral out of control?
Let’s take a closer look at why compliance costs are rising, what’s at stake for banks and fintechs in Australia, and how modern AML solutions, powered by AI and collaboration, are helping institutions future-proof their compliance programmes.
Why Are AML Compliance Costs Rising in Australia?
Over the past few years, Australia has seen a surge in regulatory activity around financial crime. From high-profile casino investigations to AUSTRAC’s growing enforcement role, the message is clear: AML compliance is non-negotiable.
Here’s what’s driving the rising cost:
1. Tighter Regulatory Expectations
AUSTRAC expects more than just basic transaction monitoring. Institutions must demonstrate proactive risk assessments, tailored customer due diligence (CDD), and robust ongoing monitoring — all supported by detailed documentation and audit trails.
2. More Complex Financial Crime
Criminals are getting smarter. Whether it’s mule networks exploiting instant payments or layering funds across crypto and traditional channels, detecting illicit activity now requires more sophisticated tools and deeper data insights.
3. Manual Workflows and Legacy Systems
Many institutions still rely on outdated systems and siloed processes, which increase the burden on compliance teams and inflate operational costs. Manually reviewing false positives or investigating fragmented alerts takes time — and people.
4. Reputational Risk and Fines
In recent years, enforcement actions have brought AML failures into public view — from Crown and Star casinos to financial institutions under investigation. The reputational damage, legal risk, and remediation costs far outweigh the cost of modernising compliance infrastructure.
What Do Rising AML Costs Look Like on the Ground?
According to industry estimates, large Australian banks are spending hundreds of millions annually on compliance-related activities. Mid-sized banks and fintechs may not face the same scale, but they often carry a disproportionate burden due to leaner teams and tighter budgets.
Here’s where the costs add up:
- Hiring and retaining skilled AML staff
- Managing alert fatigue from legacy monitoring systems
- Frequent audits and remediation exercises
- Technology upgrades and consultant fees
- Delays in customer onboarding due to manual CDD reviews
These costs aren’t just financial — they also affect speed, agility, and customer experience.
Can Smarter Tools Reduce the Burden?
The short answer: yes — but only if they’re the right tools.
Smarter AML compliance doesn't mean more tools. It means better tools that are purpose-built for modern financial crime risks. Here's what that looks like:
What Smarter AML Compliance Looks Like
1. Behavioural Transaction Monitoring
Modern systems go beyond rule-based monitoring to detect suspicious patterns based on behaviour. This reduces false positives and increases detection accuracy — freeing up analysts to focus on what matters.
2. Federated Learning and Shared Intelligence
Collaborative platforms enable institutions to share insights and typologies without sharing sensitive data. This reduces blind spots and helps detect new risks earlier — especially in cross-border and real-time payments.
3. Automation and AI Assistants
AI-powered investigation assistants can summarise alerts, prioritise high-risk cases, and auto-generate audit trails — helping compliance teams do more with less.
4. Dynamic Risk Scoring
Instead of static scoring, smarter systems update customer risk profiles in real-time based on behaviour, location, transaction type, and other dynamic inputs.
5. Plug-and-Play Integration
Modern AML solutions should integrate easily with core banking systems, customer onboarding tools, and case management platforms — reducing overhead and ensuring a seamless compliance workflow.
How Tookitaki’s FinCense Is Helping Australian Institutions Stay Ahead
At Tookitaki, we’ve designed FinCense to deliver smarter compliance — not just cheaper, but better.
Built on a modular, federated AI framework, FinCense empowers banks, fintechs, and payment platforms to stay ahead of financial crime risks without overburdening teams or budgets.
With FinCense, institutions get:
- Up to 72% reduction in false positives
- 3.5x faster case resolutions
- Real-time, scenario-based monitoring tailored to local risks
- Federated typology sharing via the AFC Ecosystem
- Smart Disposition engine for audit-ready alert summaries
Whether you're dealing with domestic mule activity, complex layering, or regulatory audits — FinCense helps you detect, investigate, and respond with speed, accuracy, and confidence.
The Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
Financial crime is evolving rapidly, and so is the regulatory bar. But throwing more people, more tools, and more money at the problem isn’t the answer.
The future of AML compliance in Australia lies in smarter systems, collaborative intelligence, and scalable solutions that adapt as the threat landscape changes.
Final Thought
Rising AML compliance costs don’t have to mean rising pain.
With the right technology, institutions in Australia can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and build lasting trust with regulators and customers alike.
If you're ready to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance, without compromising on quality — Tookitaki is here to help.
Cracking Down Under: How Australia Is Fighting Back Against Fraud
Fraud in Australia has moved beyond stolen credit cards, today’s threats are smarter, faster, and often one step ahead.
Australia is facing a new wave of financial fraud—complex scams, cyber-enabled deception, and social engineering techniques that prey on trust. From sophisticated investment frauds to deepfake impersonations, criminals are evolving rapidly. And so must our fraud prevention strategies.
This blog explores how fraud is impacting Australia, what new methods criminals are using, and how financial institutions, businesses, and individuals can stay ahead of the game. Whether you're in compliance, fintech, banking, or just a concerned citizen, fraud prevention is everyone’s business.
The Fraud Landscape in Australia: A Wake-Up Call
In 2024 alone, Australians lost over AUD 2.7 billion to scams, according to data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The Scamwatch program reported an alarming rise in phishing, investment scams, identity theft, and fake billing.
A few alarming trends:
- Investment scams accounted for over AUD 1.3 billion in losses.
- Business email compromise (BEC) and invoice fraud targeted SMEs.
- Romance and remote access scams exploited personal vulnerability.
- Deepfake scams and AI-generated impersonations are on the rise, particularly targeting executives and finance teams.
The fraud threat has gone digital, cross-border, and real-time. Traditional controls alone are no longer enough.
Why Fraud Prevention Is a National Priority
Fraud isn't just a financial issue—it’s a matter of public trust. When scams go undetected, victims don’t just lose money—they lose faith in financial institutions, government systems, and digital innovation.
Here’s why fraud prevention is now top of mind in Australia:
- Real-time payments mean real-time risks: With the rise of the New Payments Platform (NPP), funds can move across banks instantly. This has increased the urgency to detect and prevent fraud in milliseconds—not days.
- Rise in money mule networks: Criminal groups are exploiting students, gig workers, and the elderly to launder stolen funds.
- Increased regulatory pressure: AUSTRAC and ASIC are putting more pressure on institutions to identify and report suspicious activities more proactively.
Common Fraud Techniques Seen in Australia
Understanding how fraud works is the first step to preventing it. Here are some of the most commonly observed fraud techniques:
a) Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Fraudsters impersonate vendors, CEOs, or finance officers to divert funds through fake invoices or urgent payment requests. This is especially dangerous for SMEs.
b) Investment Scams
Fake trading platforms, crypto Ponzi schemes, and fraudulent real estate investments have tricked thousands. Often, these scams use fake celebrity endorsements or “guaranteed returns” to lure victims.
c) Romance and Sextortion Scams
These scams manipulate victims emotionally, often over weeks or months, before asking for money. Some even involve blackmail using fake or stolen intimate content.
d) Deepfake Impersonation
Using AI-generated voice or video, scammers are impersonating real people to initiate fund transfers or manipulate staff into giving away sensitive information.
e) Synthetic Identity Fraud
Criminals use a blend of real and fake information to create a new, ‘clean’ identity that can bypass onboarding checks at banks and fintechs.
Regulatory Push for Smarter Controls
Regulators in Australia are stepping up their efforts:
- AUSTRAC has introduced updated guidance for transaction monitoring and suspicious matter reporting, pushing institutions to adopt more adaptive, risk-based approaches.
- ASIC is cracking down on investment scams and calling for platforms to implement stricter identity and payment verification systems.
- The ACCC’s National Anti-Scam Centre launched a multi-agency initiative to disrupt scam operations through intelligence sharing and faster response times.
But even regulators acknowledge: compliance alone won't stop fraud. Prevention needs smarter tools, better collaboration, and real-time intelligence.
A New Approach: Proactive, AI-Powered Fraud Prevention
The most forward-thinking banks and fintechs in Australia are moving from reactive to proactive fraud prevention. Here's what the shift looks like:
✅ Real-Time Transaction Monitoring
Instead of relying on static rules, modern systems use machine learning to flag suspicious behaviour—like unusual payment patterns, high-risk geographies, or rapid account-to-account transfers.
✅ Behavioural Analytics
Understanding what ‘normal’ looks like for each user helps detect anomalies fast—like a customer suddenly logging in from a new country or making a large transfer outside business hours.
✅ AI Copilots for Investigators
Tools like AI-powered investigation assistants can help analysts triage alerts faster, recommend next steps, and even generate narrative summaries for suspicious activity reports.
✅ Community Intelligence
Fraudsters often reuse tactics across institutions. Platforms like Tookitaki’s AFC Ecosystem allow banks to share anonymised fraud scenarios and red flags—so everyone can learn and defend together.
✅ Federated Learning Models
These models allow banks to collaborate on fraud detection algorithms without sharing customer data—bringing the power of collective intelligence without compromising privacy.
Fraud Prevention Best Practices for Australian Institutions
Whether you're a Tier-1 bank or a growing fintech, these best practices are critical:
- Prioritise real-time fraud detection tools that work across payment channels and digital platforms.
- Train your teams—fraudsters are exploiting human error more than technical flaws.
- Invest in explainable AI to build trust with regulators and internal stakeholders.
- Use layered defences: Combine transaction monitoring, device fingerprinting, behavioural analytics, and biometric verification.
- Collaborate across the ecosystem—join industry platforms, share intel, and learn from others.
How Tookitaki Supports Fraud Prevention in Australia
Tookitaki is helping Australian institutions stay ahead of fraud by combining advanced AI with collective intelligence. Our FinCense platform offers:
- End-to-end fraud and AML detection across transactions, customers, and devices.
- Federated learning that enables risk detection with insights contributed by a global network of financial crime experts.
- Smart investigation tools to reduce alert fatigue and speed up response times.
The Role of Public Awareness in Prevention
It’s not just institutions—customers play a key role too. Public campaigns like Scamwatch, educational content from banks, and media coverage of fraud trends all contribute to prevention.
Simple actions like verifying sender details, avoiding suspicious links, and reporting scam attempts can go a long way. In the fight against fraud, awareness is the first line of defence.
Conclusion: Staying Ahead in a Smarter Fraud Era
Fraud prevention in Australia can no longer be treated as an afterthought. The threats are too advanced, too fast, and too costly.
With the right mix of technology, collaboration, and education, Australia can stay ahead of financial criminals—and turn the tide in favour of consumers, businesses, and institutions alike.
Whether it’s adopting AI tools, sharing threat insights, or empowering individuals, fraud prevention is no longer optional. It’s the new frontline of trust.
The CEO Wasn’t Real: Inside Singapore’s $499K Deepfake Video Scam
In March 2025, a finance director at a multinational firm in Singapore authorised a US$499,000 payment during what appeared to be a Zoom call with the company’s senior leadership. There was just one problem: none of the people on the call were real.
What seemed like a routine virtual meeting turned out to be a highly orchestrated deepfake scam, where cybercriminals used artificial intelligence to impersonate the company’s Chief Financial Officer and other top executives. The finance director, believing the request was genuine, wired nearly half a million dollars to a fraudulent account.
The incident has sent shockwaves across the financial and corporate world, underscoring the fast-evolving threat of deepfake technology.
Background of the Scam
According to Singapore police reports, the finance executive received a message from someone posing as the company’s UK-based CFO. The message requested an urgent fund transfer to facilitate a confidential acquisition. To build credibility, the fraudster set up a Zoom call — featuring multiple senior executives, all appearing and sounding authentic.
But the entire video call was fabricated using deepfake technology.
These weren’t just stolen profile photos; they were AI-generated likenesses with synced facial movements and realistic voices, mimicking actual executives. The finance director, seeing what seemed like familiar faces and hearing familiar voices, followed through with the transfer.
Only later did the company realise that the actual executives had never been on the call.
What the Case Revealed
This wasn’t just another phishing email or spoofed WhatsApp message. This was next-level digital deception. Here’s what made it chillingly effective:
- Multi-party deepfake execution – The fraud involved several synthetic identities, all rendered convincingly in real-time to simulate a legitimate boardroom environment.
- High-level impersonation – Senior figures like the CFO were cloned with accurate visual and vocal characteristics, heightening the illusion of authority and urgency.
- Deeply contextual manipulation – The scam leveraged business context (e.g. M&A activity, board-level communications) that suggested insider knowledge.
Singapore’s police reported this as one of the most convincing cases of AI-powered impersonation seen to date — and issued a national warning to corporations and finance professionals.
Impact on Financial Institutions and Corporates
While the fraud targeted one company, its implications ripple across the entire financial system:
Deepfake Fatigue and Trust Erosion
When even video calls are no longer trustworthy, confidence in digital communication takes a hit. This undermines both internal decision-making and external client relationships.
CFOs and Finance Teams in the Crosshairs
Finance and treasury teams are prime targets for scams like this. These professionals are expected to act fast, handle large sums, and follow instructions from the top — making them vulnerable to high-pressure frauds.
Breakdown of Traditional Verification
Emails, video calls, and even voice confirmations can be falsified. Without secondary verification protocols, companies remain dangerously exposed.
Lessons Learned from the Scam
The Singapore deepfake case isn’t an outlier — it’s a glimpse into the future of financial crime. Key takeaways:
- Always Verify High-Value Requests
Especially those involving new accounts or cross-border transfers. A secondary channel of verification — via phone or an encrypted app — is now a must. - Educate Senior Leadership
Executives need to be aware that their digital identities can be hijacked. Regular briefings on impersonation risks are essential. - Adopt Real-Time Behavioural Monitoring
Advanced analytics can flag abnormal transaction patterns — even when the request appears “approved” by an authority figure. - Invest in Deepfake Detection Tools
There are now software solutions that scan video content for artefacts, inconsistencies, or signs of AI manipulation. - Strengthen Internal Protocols
Critical payment workflows should always require multi-party authorisation, escalation logic, and documented rationale.
The Role of Technology in Prevention
Scams like this are designed to outsmart conventional defences. A new kind of defence is required — one that adapts in real-time and learns from emerging threats.
This is where Tookitaki’s compliance platform, FinCense, plays a vital role.
Powered by the AFC Ecosystem and Agentic AI:
- Typology-Driven Detection: FinCense continuously updates its detection logic based on real-world scam scenarios contributed by financial crime experts worldwide.
- AI-Powered Simulation: Institutions can simulate deepfake-driven fraud scenarios to test and refine their internal controls.
- Federated Learning: Risk signals and red flags from across institutions are shared securely without compromising sensitive data.
- Smart Case Disposition: Agentic AI reviews and narrates alerts, allowing compliance officers to respond faster and with greater clarity — even in complex scams like this.
Moving Forward: Facing the Synthetic Threat Landscape
Deepfake technology has moved from the realm of novelty to real-world risk. The Singapore incident is a wake-up call for companies across ASEAN and beyond.
When identity can be faked in real-time, and fraudsters learn faster than regulators, the only defence is to stay ahead — with intelligence, collaboration, and next-generation tech.
Because next time, the CEO might not be real, but the money lost will be.
The Rising Cost of AML Compliance in Australia: Can Smarter Tools Reduce the Burden?
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance in Australia has never been more critical — or more expensive.
As regulatory scrutiny increases and financial crime becomes more complex, financial institutions are under pressure to spend more time, money, and resources just to keep up.
But is this sustainable? And is there a smarter way to stay compliant without letting costs spiral out of control?
Let’s take a closer look at why compliance costs are rising, what’s at stake for banks and fintechs in Australia, and how modern AML solutions, powered by AI and collaboration, are helping institutions future-proof their compliance programmes.
Why Are AML Compliance Costs Rising in Australia?
Over the past few years, Australia has seen a surge in regulatory activity around financial crime. From high-profile casino investigations to AUSTRAC’s growing enforcement role, the message is clear: AML compliance is non-negotiable.
Here’s what’s driving the rising cost:
1. Tighter Regulatory Expectations
AUSTRAC expects more than just basic transaction monitoring. Institutions must demonstrate proactive risk assessments, tailored customer due diligence (CDD), and robust ongoing monitoring — all supported by detailed documentation and audit trails.
2. More Complex Financial Crime
Criminals are getting smarter. Whether it’s mule networks exploiting instant payments or layering funds across crypto and traditional channels, detecting illicit activity now requires more sophisticated tools and deeper data insights.
3. Manual Workflows and Legacy Systems
Many institutions still rely on outdated systems and siloed processes, which increase the burden on compliance teams and inflate operational costs. Manually reviewing false positives or investigating fragmented alerts takes time — and people.
4. Reputational Risk and Fines
In recent years, enforcement actions have brought AML failures into public view — from Crown and Star casinos to financial institutions under investigation. The reputational damage, legal risk, and remediation costs far outweigh the cost of modernising compliance infrastructure.
What Do Rising AML Costs Look Like on the Ground?
According to industry estimates, large Australian banks are spending hundreds of millions annually on compliance-related activities. Mid-sized banks and fintechs may not face the same scale, but they often carry a disproportionate burden due to leaner teams and tighter budgets.
Here’s where the costs add up:
- Hiring and retaining skilled AML staff
- Managing alert fatigue from legacy monitoring systems
- Frequent audits and remediation exercises
- Technology upgrades and consultant fees
- Delays in customer onboarding due to manual CDD reviews
These costs aren’t just financial — they also affect speed, agility, and customer experience.
Can Smarter Tools Reduce the Burden?
The short answer: yes — but only if they’re the right tools.
Smarter AML compliance doesn't mean more tools. It means better tools that are purpose-built for modern financial crime risks. Here's what that looks like:
What Smarter AML Compliance Looks Like
1. Behavioural Transaction Monitoring
Modern systems go beyond rule-based monitoring to detect suspicious patterns based on behaviour. This reduces false positives and increases detection accuracy — freeing up analysts to focus on what matters.
2. Federated Learning and Shared Intelligence
Collaborative platforms enable institutions to share insights and typologies without sharing sensitive data. This reduces blind spots and helps detect new risks earlier — especially in cross-border and real-time payments.
3. Automation and AI Assistants
AI-powered investigation assistants can summarise alerts, prioritise high-risk cases, and auto-generate audit trails — helping compliance teams do more with less.
4. Dynamic Risk Scoring
Instead of static scoring, smarter systems update customer risk profiles in real-time based on behaviour, location, transaction type, and other dynamic inputs.
5. Plug-and-Play Integration
Modern AML solutions should integrate easily with core banking systems, customer onboarding tools, and case management platforms — reducing overhead and ensuring a seamless compliance workflow.
How Tookitaki’s FinCense Is Helping Australian Institutions Stay Ahead
At Tookitaki, we’ve designed FinCense to deliver smarter compliance — not just cheaper, but better.
Built on a modular, federated AI framework, FinCense empowers banks, fintechs, and payment platforms to stay ahead of financial crime risks without overburdening teams or budgets.
With FinCense, institutions get:
- Up to 72% reduction in false positives
- 3.5x faster case resolutions
- Real-time, scenario-based monitoring tailored to local risks
- Federated typology sharing via the AFC Ecosystem
- Smart Disposition engine for audit-ready alert summaries
Whether you're dealing with domestic mule activity, complex layering, or regulatory audits — FinCense helps you detect, investigate, and respond with speed, accuracy, and confidence.
The Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
Financial crime is evolving rapidly, and so is the regulatory bar. But throwing more people, more tools, and more money at the problem isn’t the answer.
The future of AML compliance in Australia lies in smarter systems, collaborative intelligence, and scalable solutions that adapt as the threat landscape changes.
Final Thought
Rising AML compliance costs don’t have to mean rising pain.
With the right technology, institutions in Australia can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and build lasting trust with regulators and customers alike.
If you're ready to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance, without compromising on quality — Tookitaki is here to help.