International Fraud Awareness Week: Meet Bolt fraud fighter Cathy Liu

According to Corporate Finance Institute, a 10% net profit margin is considered average. Add that to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimate that organizations worldwide lose 5% of their annual revenues to fraud and it’s clear that fraud has significant impacts on business operations.

With the global pandemic and the substantial increase in digital transformation, fraud risks have risen dramatically. Sift, a digital trust and safety company, noted that over the last year, “overall account take-over rates surged by 282%.” The increase in overall demand for digital services and the number of new, less digitally savvy customers has presented new opportunities for fraudsters.

Fraud Awareness Week, November 15-21

For these reasons, International Fraud Awareness Week 2020 is especially relevant this year. The purpose of Fraud Awareness Week is to promote fraud awareness and education. This year it runs November 15-21 and Trulioo solidly supports all efforts to protect businesses and consumers in today’s new reality of increased online commerce and transactions.

To shine a light on those who are responsible for protecting us from fraud and financial crime, we are publishing a series of posts featuring fraud prevention experts discussing relevant industry issues and ways to improve fraud mitigation processes and procedures.

One of these experts is Cathy Liu, Head of Fraud Prevention at Bolt. Bolt is a lightning-fast, single-click checkout platform that must ensure online transactions are both quick and legitimate. Slow transactions can lead to customer cart abandonment, resulting in lower fees and merchant dissatisfaction. Without effective fraud prevention measures, Bolt is also at risk, as they cover 100% of fraudulent chargebacks.

Cathy Liu, Head of Fraud Prevention, Bolt

Cathy drives product strategy, operations and GTM for Bolt’s Approve product. Previously, she worked for technology investment firm Silver Lake, where she was first introduced to eCommerce fraud. She also spent time at the Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco, serving financial services clients.

What is the one piece of advice you would offer someone who is entering the fraud industry?

Never get complacent. When it comes to fraud — right when you think you’ve learned the game, the game changes.

What fraud statistic or/fact scares/interests you the most?

Ecommerce fraud attempts have doubled since the start of COVID-19 in March. As eCommerce penetration has accelerated due to the pandemic, fraud attempts have quickly followed.

How can organizations best protect their business, customers and employees from fraud?

Fraud is a moving target, and the best protection is one that grows with your business. Fraud is such a difficult problem because fraudsters are constantly innovating; therefore, fraud prevention solutions must also innovate to remain one step ahead.

Fraud prevention professionals working together

Visit Identity Insights ­— the Trulioo Blog — during Fraud Awareness Week to learn what other experts are recommending. Meanwhile, there are many steps that you can take now:

• Get involved by using the hashtag #fraudweek
• Learn more with numerous videos, guides and reports
• Share this Fraud Prevention Tip Sheet

Ten quick tips to fight fraud and protect your business

To help with education and promotion of best practices during Fraud Awareness Week, we’ve created this tip sheet with facts and tips from fraud industry experts like Cathy.