Film puts fraud under spotlight
The current rise of fraud is only the tip of the iceberg and there needs to be more awareness and education on fraud, a Kiwi tech guru says.
Sam MacGeorge, the founder of a tamper-proof payment vetting system called Vigilance, said financial fraud was increasing and New Zealand was only just waking up to its effects.
More than 70 per cent of fraud in companies is committed by employees and more than half of those were employed by the company for more than six years.
Figures released under the Official Information Act showed that as at July 28, there were 888 files where a possible fraud or deception offence had been committed, but was yet to be assigned for police investigation.
MacGeorge’s Vigilance software can identify questionable payee and bank information even before the funds have left a business’ account.
It leaves no time for fraudsters to change information at the last minute during the approval process.
The software works on both fiat and cryptocurrency payments.
MacGeorge applauded fraud awareness campaigns like Fraud Awareness Week and the recent Fraud Film Festival, saying they were taking the right step in increasing exposure on the issue.
New Zealand hosted its first Fraud Film Festival in November and after a strong turnout, it is set to bring back a second one in March.
The event is based on the Dutch Fraud Film Festival which first took place in 2014.
The Oscar-nominated documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, a story about the prosecution of a small New York neighbourhood bank which serves the local Chinese community, will be one of the films on feature at the event.
The themes for this year’s event at the ASB Waterfront theatre are corruption, technology and dishonesty.
MacGregor said this year blockchain technology would only increase in popularity and usage and was a major opportunity for banks.
Blockchain has so far proved impossible to hack and now government agencies like the Ministry of Health and the NZ Qualifications Authority are also exploring its possibilities.
Leigh Flounders, a director of Vigilance and chief executive of payment service provider Latipay, said financial technology was one of the fastest growing sectors of the technology industry, and within that sector, regulatory technology was the fastest mover.