A recent BioCatch report found that nearly 80% of the 800 fraud-management, anti-money laundering (AML), and risk and compliance leaders surveyed say criminal enterprises today are more sophisticated at laundering money than financial institutions (FIs) are at detecting that laundering. Equally concerning, 83% of respondents agree there exists a link between fraud and other crimes like terrorism and the trafficking of drugs and people.

Nearly half of Dark Economy Survey respondents say their organization loses more than $10 million to fraud every year, while 8% (64 banking leaders) say their FI loses more than $50 million to fraud every year. Those whose organization had invested in behavior-based solutions were less likely to lose substantial amounts to fraud year-over-year compared to those without behavioral defenses.

Eighty-nine percent of respondents agree that combatting money laundering on a larger scale requires more regulatory intervention, while 13% say individual bad actors are more likely to perpetrate fraud than criminal groups. According to Nasdaq’s Global Financial Crime Report, $3.1 trillion in illicit funds moved through the world’s financial system in 2023 alone. That estimate might be conservative.

Other key survey findings:

• Respondents say AI tools (78%), social media (76%), and dark web forums (73%) have increased the sophistication of financial crime.
• 84% of those surveyed agree that combatting the Dark Economy is important.
• More than three quarters (77%) of respondents believe global banks are winning the war on financial crime, but 55% believe their organization is making an impact in this fight.
• While 61% of those surveyed say one instance of money laundering often leads to other related cases, 41% say their organization typically limits its investigation to only the individual account in question.

Read the report.