A Day in the Life...

Stephen Holmes, Intelligence Analyst in the Credit Hire Fraud team, explains what his role is in the team and how it helps the fraud identification process.

As the Intelligence Analyst for Credit Hire Fraud, my first task every day is to review the matches flagged by Keoghs Advanced Data Analytics (ADA). As many as 35,000 claims go through our credit hire unit each year and ADA has the ability to screen all of these claims against our intelligence databases. ADA assesses the risk level of a claim based upon factors such as the CHO, the claimant, the addresses and the vehicles featuring on the claim. ADA will then flag the claim as red or amber if there are any potential credit hire fraud concerns.

My role is to review these matches and provide additional intelligence from the Keoghs Intelligence Database in relation to the matches. This information is then utilised to help decide whether or not the claim should be transferred into our credit hire fraud team.

ADA plays a key role in the identification of credit hire fraud alongside our manual referral process. Case handlers in our credit hire teams can manually refer files into the credit hire fraud team if they have concerns with a claim, which are also screened against the Keoghs Intelligence database on a daily basis. Details of any matches are provided to the case handlers who will then make the decision as to whether or not the file is transferred.

Our intelligence-based fraud identification processes spotted 449 new credit hire fraud matters which were added to the Keoghs Intelligence database during 2015.

After the daily fraud identification processes have been carried out, the next part of my day consists of carrying out investigations into credit hire companies and claimants. Every CHO that we encounter within credit hire fraud will be profiled by myself. Searches are conducted against the companies to assess Keoghs’ previous exposure and identify any background history for the company, both positive and negative. These company profiles contribute towards an extensive central database of reports providing background information on credit hire companies which can be accessed by all members of the credit hire fraud team within Keoghs.

Over 250 different credit hire organisations featured on the claims handled by CHF in 2015. Keoghs had no previous exposure to 25% of these companies.

Once a file is retained by the credit hire fraud team I am then responsible for adding the claim to the Keoghs Intelligence Database. The database holds records of all claims within Keoghs which have been handled due to fraud concerns and is heavily utilised by ADA.
I also carry out a set of searches against the entities on the file to identify any additional adverse data at the outset - the aim being to provide the credit hire fraud case handler with as much intelligence as possible at the earliest stage. Once they have reviewed the file they can request that I carry out further intelligence investigations as and when required.

The rest of my day will typically be related to intelligence sharing activities.

The investigations I carry out contribute to the preparation of our monthly intelligence report. This report is disseminated to clients to advise of any new trends and developments within credit hire fraud and other areas within Keoghs’ counter fraud teams. I also complete success forms to emphasise to our clients what intelligence investigations have been carried out and how Keoghs has used the results of these investigations to achieve our savings within Credit Hire Fraud...

...indeed, savings across the team are at a huge 90% of the total amount claimed on files handled by the credit hire fraud team in the last 12 months. 

This information is then used in our monthly intelligence calls with clients which provide an opportunity for them to discuss any of the issues raised in our monthly report as well as any other issues they may have encountered recently.

On a daily basis, both myself and Fraser McAndry, Director of Credit Hire Fraud, receive numerous ad hoc queries from both clients and colleagues. These queries will often request information in relation to credit hire companies. Such requests present an opportunity to continually assess the team’s exposure and experiences with these companies whilst also being able to review our client’s exposure and our own exposure across other business areas within Keoghs.

Intelligence sharing is vital to our continued success within the credit hire fraud team. The effective sharing of intelligence both internally and externally ensures that the information both Keoghs and our clients hold in relation to credit hire fraud is as current as possible.

With our clients becoming increasingly aware of credit hire fraud and the challenges that it presents I work closely with our director of credit hire fraud to deliver a range of additional services. These include offering training and advice relating to credit hire fraud and intelligence investigations as well as client visits and demonstrations of our processes. These steps are crucial to ensure that we are continually working with clients to develop effective strategies to combat credit hire fraud and the same strategies are then being employed at all stages during the lifecycle of a file.