It Takes a Team Approach to Combat Financial Crimes
March 06 2019 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Regions Bank launching campaign in March to
prevent fraud, identify human trafficking
Financial crimes cost the global economy trillions of dollars
every year and are increasing in frequency at an alarming rate.
That impact starts, however, with costing ordinary people and
businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars. This month, Regions is
launching the Good Sense financial safety series on its news
website, Doing More Today, to show how consumers, businesses and
financial institutions can work together to combat financial crimes
such as elder financial abuse, business email compromise and human
trafficking.
From senior individuals personally affected by financial
exploitation to businesses targeted by email spoofing, financial
crimes aren’t just expensive, they’re widespread:
- Elder financial abuse: According
to the National Adult Protective Services Association, one in nine
seniors report financial abuse – and even
then, they say elder abuse is under-reported. These
situations commonly involve trusted people in the life of the
vulnerable adult, such as loved ones, friends or caretakers,
improperly using the older person’s funds, property or assets.
- Business email compromise
(BEC): It’s a sophisticated scam that looks simple: Maybe
it’s an email that looks like it’s from a company executive
requesting a transfer of funds. But behind the scenes a criminal
has compromised a legitimate business email account to conduct
unauthorized funds transfers. According to the FBI, the losses from
BEC increased by 136 percent to more than $12 billion between
December 2016 and May 2018.
- Human trafficking: Beyond the
human toll of compelling someone to work or engage in a commercial
sex act through force, fraud or coercion, its victims commonly have
several bank accounts opened by traffickers in their name. These
accounts may be used for money laundering, loans or benefit fraud.
According to the International Labour Office, the worldwide illegal
profits generated from human trafficking now top $150 billion per
year.
“The human impact of fraud is immense, whether you’re talking
about one of the 40+ million men, women and children trapped in
trafficking, or the elderly victim scammed out of their life’s
savings,” explained Don White, head of Regions Corporate Security.
“We work closely with law enforcement, and have people and
procedures in place to identify, investigate and report financial
crimes. That said, the best, first line of defense is for consumers
and businesses to be educated and vigilant in spotting and
thwarting these types of crimes before they happen.”
A 25-year veteran of the Secret Service, White oversees a team
of former district and U.S. attorneys; DEA and FBI agents; and
former leaders from local, county and state police departments, all
concerned for the safety of Regions customers, associates and
properties 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Beyond Corporate Security, White says Regions associates are
trained to spot the warning signs of financial crimes and report
any suspicious activity. All Regions employees must successfully
complete annual training courses on financial crimes, the Bank
Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering law, privacy and information
security.
“Our focus is always on serving our customers and communities
and making it easy to do business with us,” White added. “But the
criminals are persistent, so that means all of us – from banks to
consumers and the business community – have to constantly be on
guard.”
To learn more, visit Doing More Today beginning on March 6 for
more information on combating various types of financial crime.
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $126 billion in
assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the
nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial
banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services.
Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and
through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,500
banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Additional information about
Regions and its full line of products and services can be found
at www.regions.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005135/en/
Nicole Wyatt205-264-4551regions.doingmoretoday.comRegions News
on Twitter: @Regions News
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