Technology will make frauds more complex: Experts

SINGAPORE - As technology becomes more sophisticated, so will fraudsters.

According to the United States' Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), technology will give fraudsters an edge next year. More massive data breaches, like the ones that have stricken US retailers Home Depot and Target Corp, are likely to occur in 2015.

ACFE regent Gerard Zack said: "More and more we are reacting to reports of fraud with 'how did they do that?'

"It's a reflection of schemes becoming more complex and capitalising on technology, including some of the new technology deployed by companies in the interest of improving efficiency."

Accoding to ACFE vice-president Bruce Dorris, more data breaches are likely to occur as storage of data continues to grow for firms that store and maintain personal information of clients or customers.

But the association also said in a statement on Wednesday that improving technology will help catch fraudsters, with data analytic and data mining tools contributing to the effort.

Another expert, ACFE associate general counsel Jacob Parks, said that increased acceptance of digital currencies like bitcoin will shift fraud risks from vendors to customers.

"Vendors/sellers face reduced fraud risks from 'friendly fraud', where customers fraudulently cancel credit card or bank payments after receiving an item," he said. "Digital currency transactions are generally permanent, which makes this scheme untenable. However, consumers face an increased risk of fraud by dishonest sellers, since the transaction is often not insured or protected by an agreement with a financial institution."

sinsh@sph.com.sg