SFBI’s Fraud Discussion – “The Faces of Fraud”

Published by gmgadmin at October 19, 2016

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Date: October 19, 2016

SFBI: Speaker: Craig Catlin
North Miami Police Department

Perhaps it was our anticipation for the future of anti-fraud practices, or learning how the law tackles gang fraudsters – but whatever the reason, we were all on cloud nine.

The South Florida Banking Institute – October edition featured speaker Detective Craig Catlin. Catlin is a four time Officer of the Year, and has over 19 years of his career embedded with the North Miami Beach Police Department.

Focusing on gang fraud, Detective Craig has discovered and implemented several new methods into his investigations, bringing crime to justice. According to CNN, “Craig Catlin, happens to be one of the country’s leading experts on fraud.” Detective Catlin’s gang fraud investigations have led to numerous federal indictments including cases involving million dollars losses on IRS tax refunds, fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits and counterfeit credit card schemes. Catlin’s investigations have been featured on local news, the Miami Herald, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, CBS’s 60 Minutes, Fox Business and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Among the topics of discussion was the investigative process of how fraud is sought after by criminal gangs as the best source of income while much easier to handle than drugs. Bitcoin, the dark web, Square, skimmers, stolen checks, social security numbers, and even prepaid Target cards were the biggest sources of fraudulent proceeds in South Florida criminal cases. He went through the tactics he used in order to bring criminals to justice. He went along as well to declare that the biggest problem is that scammers are not facing jail time and are becoming ever more confident. The most important thing learned from his presentation would be how aware you are of your company’s and personal information in order to make sure you and your clients are protected. Catlin pressured that with the increase in breaches and incidents in financial institutions, following proper Information Security methods is imperative to protecting your identity. The best way to ensure you are protected at all times is keeping an eye out for potential fraudulent accounts, and establishing protocols for the company in how to handle these cases.

Special thanks to Comcast Business, Ciena, and City National Bank – BCI Financial Group for being generous enough to facilitate, host and sponsor this month’s event.