Actionable Intelligence explained: A presentation to the LMA (Lloyd's Market Association) by Armour Intelligence, specialists in fraud detection and deterrence
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1. Dexterity and quick thinking in a changing world
Actionable Intelligence
explained
May 2014
2. CONFIDENTIAL & NOT FOR EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION
To explain the importance of actionable
intelligence so as to increase our ability
to combat fraud
Our
aim
3. Actionable Intelligence
“We can get to the truth of the matter when other people cannot; we can turn information
that may at first seem pretty random into actionable intelligence”
“The data analytics provide a good guidance and means of filtering. But, at best, all they can
say is, this is likely to be fraudulent”
4. Context
Fraud is rising, and the nature of it is shifting
Overall impact in 2012 – 2013* = £52billion, made up of:
£21 bn Public Sector
£21 bn Private Sector
£10 bn Individuals
Charity? £147.3 million – e.g. 17% of lottery funds
Hard crime is reducing, but fraud is increasing in the following markets:
Life insurance
Motor insurance
Home insurance
*source: National Fraud Indicator 2013
5. Progress
There are initiatives that are having an impact, e.g. the City of London Police’s
Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), Action Fraud and the National Crime
Agency (NCA) - But is it a losing battle?
In order to succeed in deterring fraudulent activity from being committed, we strongly
recommend you to:
Lower the pain threshold
Stigmatise fraud
Advertise your deterrence
Prosecute at every opportunity
It is up to you. You are the front line.
6. Monday 28 October 2013
Danyal Buckharee was jailed for 3
years after starting up First Car
Direct Insurance and three other
websites, the UK’s biggest
fraudulent car insurance scheme.
Giovanni Recchia helped
Buckharee run the fake website and
was jailed the same day.
The pair conned 600 people into
paying up to £680,000 for worthless
insurance.
The rise of the ‘Ghost Brokers’
7. Buckharee (left) was sentenced to three years in jail.
Below, the ‘office’ where he began his fraudulent
business – an apartment in South London where the
crooks used an iPod to create the illusion of
background office noise.
Actionable Intelligence in the news: Ghost broker jailed for
UK’s biggest fake car insurance scam
8. How to spot a ‘Ghost broker’?
Ghost brokers often communicate with customers via free internet messaging on
mobile phones, such as BlackBerry messaging and WhatsApp.
Customers are usually asked to pay for policies in cash or by bank transfer,
although some of the more elaborate scams offer payment by instalments to make
the transaction seem more genuine.
Ghost brokers have been found to operate from specified websites and more
increasingly on the classified advert websites such as Gumtree.
9. Using Actionable Intelligence to combat the Ghost Broker
Step 1: Assess the evidence
How have they contacted you?
Payment type?
Step 2: Intelligence checks
Is the subject company reputable? Visit website, Social Media sites and most
importantly, read customer reviews online. If other people have encountered
problems it is very likely they have shared them online.
Step 3: Action Research and Intelligence
If a deal seems dodgy, it probably is.
Step 4: Report to the IFED, NCA or Action Fraud.
Ghost broker reported and evidence acquired by authorities.
Outcome: Ghost broker avoided and reported
10. E-mail Fraud
We are seeing a growing prevalence of fraudsters using hacked email accounts to ask for
money for fake emergencies. The fraud indicators can be overlooked but are usually fairly
obvious. Look out for:
Writing Style
Unplanned holidays
“Emergencies”
Money transfers
From: Louise Chaplain [mailto:louise_chapln@hotmail.com]
Sent : 24 October 2013 12:12
Subject : Help............Louise Chaplin
Just hoping this email reaches you well, I'm sorry for this emergency and for not informing you
about my urgent trip to Warszawa,Poland but I just have to let you know my present
predicament. Everything was fine until I was attacked on my way back to the hotel, I wasn't hurt
but I lost my money, bank cards, mobile phone and my bag in the course of this attack. I
immediately contacted my bank in order to block my cards and also made a report at the nearest
police station. I've been to the embassy and they are helping me with my documentation so i can
fly out but I'm urgently in need of some money to pay for my hotel bills and my flight ticket
home, will definitely REFUND as soon as back home .
Kindly let me know if you would be able to help me out so I can forward you the details required
for a wire transfer.
Waiting to hear back from you...
Thank You.
Louise
11. What is Actionable Intelligence?
Information*:
Facts or opinions provided or learned about something or someone.
Intelligence*:
The collection of information of military or political or commercial value
Actionable Intelligence*
The necessary background information that will enable someone to
deal quickly and efficiently with a particular situation
*Source : Oxford English Dictionary
*Source: Collins English Dictionary
12. What is Actionable Intelligence?
Information that is:
Relevant to your purpose
Accurate
From reliable sources
And, most importantly, timely:
Speed has a quality of its own
Timing is key in prevention and deterrence
13. Actionable Intelligence: The Process
Assemble the facts. What are you dealing with?
What do you want/need to do about it?
What information do you need to know?
Where can you get it and how?
Assets - Open source, analytics, HUMINT (Human Intelligence)
Constraints e.g. costs
Operating within the Law:
Investigators
Data protection
14. Information and Intelligence from Open Source Research
Note – this list is not exhaustive!
Channels and sources for intelligence include:
• Newspapers
- National/Local/Free
• Birth, Death, Marriage Records
- Local Registry Office/Church Records
• Phonebooks
- Yellow Pages/White Pages/Thompson Local
• www.
- Search Engines/Social networking sites
• e.g. Google/Bing/Ask/Lycos/Yahoo
• Meta & Mega Search Tools
• - IncyWincy/Metacrawler
• People and Company Finders
• - 192/peopletracer/Zoopla/123people/Company House Worldwide
• Web 2.0, Social Media and Real-Time
• - Twitter/Facebook/Instagram
• /MySpace/Bebo
• News
- Online Newspapers/TV News
• Image and video search
- Flickr/Photobucket/YouTube
• Maps/Geographic
- Crime Mapper/Google Earth
• Username Search
- Peekyou/Snitch.name
15. Actionable Intelligence: The Process
What do you do with it?
Collate
Analyse. Deduce. Ask questions.
Intelligence Pack
Targeted investigations
Follow up leads
Establish ground truth and intent
Produce a report - to evidential standard
Sense check. Independent verification.
Act on it:
Pass to requester
Follow up
Collateral intelligence
Store refresh and exploit
16. The Example: Track and Trace
AI was asked by one of our clients to Trace and Interview a previously non-
cooperative policy holder
Step 1: Review already held material
Step 2: Identify intelligence gaps
Step 3: Antecedence checks e.g. subject profiling and open source research. Checks
on all known addresses, workplace location, Social Media to confirm known
connections, general search – newspapers, records
Step 4: We sent an investigator to cold call, policy address and associated addresses
Step 5: The policy holder’s address was vacant, however a cold call on an address
we identified as the policy holder’s parents proved successful with them calling the
policy holder who then met and was interviewed by our investigator
Outcome: Contact with formerly elusive subject made. Our client was able to repudiate
the claims presented.
17. The Example: Person Trace
AI was instructed to conduct a person trace investigation relating to an individual
who owed our client money for an unpaid loan.
Step 1: Reviewing the evidence already held (minimal)
Step 2: Conducting extensive online research, including examining both open and closed
publicly accessible databases, media databases and conducting other open source research
Step 3: Evidence produced of the subject’s whereabouts, known property, employment,
business interests and other information of interest
Step 4: Recommendation produced backing up the evidence confirming that the subject
can be traced through enquiries at his work place
Outcome: Recommendation and statement of confidence produced for client
determined that the subject’s lifestyle and work indicated his ability to afford the
repayments on his outstanding debt. By using Actionable Intelligence we traced the
subject to a workplace in Scotland, while the original intelligence listed his home
being in southern England.
18. Conclusion
Fraud is growing and affects everyone
You need a prevention rather than a cure
Deterrence is key
There is too much information out there
Work out what you need to know, why, and how it can help you
Use every available [legal] source
Do not discard collateral intelligence
Follow through
Fast!
19. Armour Intelligence
About AI
Specialties:
Insurance Investigations, Security Assurance, Risk Reviews
Proven track record in investigations work
Assignments for UK Government and major UK insurers; finding resolution in over
85% of all cases handled
Why use AI?
Our staff – the best of a very special breed, with professionalism, training, experience
and determination
Our approach – flexible and innovative, while maintaining AI standard
Real time reporting; evidential standard – cases are investigated and reported to a
standard admissible in prosecutions
Speed and certainty of response – 48 hour response time. 80%+ case recommendation
in 5 working days.
20. AI Online
For more information on Actionable Intelligence, or any of our other specialities, get
social with us at:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/armour-intelligence/
https://twitter.com/ArmourIntel
www.armourintelligence.com
Continue to the next slide to watch our CEO, David Montgomery, discuss what
Actionable Intelligence does that Big Data cannot.