Artificial Intelligence is Playing a Big Role in Fraud Investigation

AI in fraud investigation makes the whole process efficient by generating relevant data

Right from deploying machines to get the work done to the robots assisting the doctors in surgeries, we've come a long way – thanks to Artificial Intelligence, truly a remarkable innovation! Today, the business models that we get to see extensive use of technology. Also, the new and complex challenges behind managing the fraud investigation are a strenuous task in itself. Well, it doesn't end there. Cross-border probe adds to the already existing complexity. Such an investigation could highlight bribery, corruption, data breach, conflict of interest, fraud in financial reporting and IP theft, to name a few.

There are a lot of factors that need to be accounted in case of a cross-border probe. Some of them are –

• Local rules, laws and regulations
• Cultural attributes
• Language barriers
• Different standardization levels, etc.

No wonder why such a probe is complex and full of challenges. With these complexities stepping in, deploying the right tools with a well-laid investigation methodology standardisation is the need of the hour.

The procedure followed by such a probe is as stated –

• Needless to say, the first step has to be getting in as much information as possible. Relying on both – external as well as internal sources for the same yields fruitful results. External sources include media, open source information, etc. whereas internal sources obviously revolves around employees, vendors, business operations, etc. A key point to note is that the information collected should be on a timely basis and also from as many sources as possible.
• Next up, try identifying the relationship between key entities and individuals
• Many tend to ignore this but is equally important – a sound knowledge on the event chronology.
• Transactional data holds a lot of crucial information. Being able to understand what goes in and how to draw necessary insights is the key here. The probe is incomplete when transactional data is not being addressed.

Now that you have a pile of data to analyse, sitting to scan every bit of this makes no sense. Identifying relevant content is the key here. It is here that Artificial Intelligence comes into the picture. Embedded artificial intelligence helps in filtering down the content and classifying it as required. The feature of semantic search is no less than a blessing here for it automatically identifies related concepts and documents.

Artificial intelligence in fraud investigation makes the whole process efficient by generating relevant data and leaves us in a position to draw meaningful insights.

Data extraction is a tedious task and when sensitive data like the data pertaining to banks, financial institutions, hospitals, etc. is involved, one cannot afford being negligent here. With advanced computer vision algorithms in place, it is possible to extract information from bank statements, and various other documents. Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques help in extracting information and also aid in performing automated verification using digital channels. Artificial intelligence is no less than a saviour for financial institutions as it caters to verification of the critical details and documents.

Analytics also plays a pivotal role in investigation. Two types of analytics, namely advanced analytics and process analytics have a lot to offer to ease the investigation process. Talking about advanced analytics, it performs the following –

1. Network analysis: This is where a relationship between individuals and entities is established.

2. Sentiment analysis: When documents are to be differentiated on the basis of tone, subject, etc., analytics comes into play. Also, any suspicious review, article, conversation, etc. can be effectively identified.

3. Detecting anomalies in the transactional data is easier than ever.

4. Using AI, it is also possible to identify undisclosed entities.

Process analytics: What can get better than getting to know how your processes are performing in addition to what needs to be done to perform better? This is exactly what process analytics has in store for you!

Though these tools and technologies can help in fraud investigation and management, what needs to be understood here is that the process is complex and comes with their own challenges. Sound knowledge about these tools and techniques might help. With frauds and crimes in the world of technology continue to rise, it is high time that the investigators have access to the right AI tools and technologies to tackle these situations.