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Fraud detection

This AI Company Catches Fraud Across the Internet

This AI Company Catches Fraud Across the Internet

Variance, emerging from three years in stealth with a $21 million Series A, is transforming enterprise risk and compliance through purpose-built AI agents. Founded by ex-Apple engineers, the company automates complex tasks like fraud detection, content review, and identity verification for Fortune 500s and platforms such as GoFundMe. They discuss the strategic reasons for stealth, technical challenges of integrating disparate data sources (including UI scraping), the shift from legacy systems to self-healing AI agent architectures, and how their lean, AI-maximalist team detects sophisticated threats like state-sponsored fraud rings.

The History of The Fintech Industry, Explained

The History of The Fintech Industry, Explained

a16z's David Haber and Plaid CEO Zach Perret chart the dramatic seasons of fintech, from the explosive VC-fueled boom of 2020-2021 to the deep freeze of 2022 and its current resurgence. They explore the transformative forces reshaping the industry today, including AI's dual role as both a primary tool for sophisticated fraud and the ultimate defense against it. The conversation also covers the rise of embedded finance, the renewed importance of deposits, and how incumbents are finally embracing external software, with Plaid's own journey serving as a microcosm of the industry's evolution.

‘Hey mum, I dropped my phone down the toilet’: Investigating Hi Mum and Dad SMS Scams in the UK

‘Hey mum, I dropped my phone down the toilet’: Investigating Hi Mum and Dad SMS Scams in the UK

An empirical study of the 'hi mum and dad' SMS scam, a new interaction-based fraud technique. The research dissects the scam's lifecycle, from initial contact to financial exploitation, by analyzing scam messages, mobile network data, and mule accounts in collaboration with a UK mobile operator. Key findings reveal the psychological principles used, the abuse of mobile and financial infrastructure, and the underlying structure of scammer networks.

Fraud Detection with AI: Ensemble of AI Models Improve Precision & Speed

Fraud Detection with AI: Ensemble of AI Models Improve Precision & Speed

A detailed look at a multi-model AI architecture for fraud detection that combines the speed of predictive machine learning for structured data with the contextual understanding of encoder LLMs for unstructured data, enabling faster and more accurate real-time decisions.