09:46 AM
Mystery Shopping for Effective Fraud Prevention
By comparing a combination of mystery-shopper tactics and Web site research against criteria in prevention, detection and resolution of identity fraud events, Javelin Strategy & Research (Pleasanton, Calif.) ranked 24 financial institutions on how well they protected customers' identities. Bank of America came out on top, with JPMorgan Chase and Washington Mutual coming in at a close second and third, respectively.
According to Javelin, the most-effective method of identifying fraud within an organization is by deputizing customers and empowering them to watch over their financial accounts. Their familiarity and personal interest in the accounts makes users more- diligent and efficient guardians. In 2005, the company says, 47 percent of fraud cases were detected by the victim first and resulted in a significantly smaller (48 percent) average fraud amount, 35 percent shorter detection times and 36 percent lower cost to the consumer.
Now, more and more customers want, and are receiving, user-defined alerts -- such as when a balance is low or when there was a transaction involving a large amount of money -- to come to them directly so that they can closely monitor financial transactions that relate to their accounts. <<<