Detica releases fraud detection system

NetReveal takes a revolutionary approach to fraud detection by spotting fraudulent activity in social networks, rather than individual transactions. The technology is already being successfully applied to identify claims fraud in the insurance industry, as well as mobile phone fraud in the telecoms market and "sleeper fraud" in retail banking. It is also being used in government to address fraud and security issues.

The NetReveal solution contrasts with traditional approaches to fraud detection, which are limited by their reliance on using rigid sets of rules to detect suspicious transactions at an individual level. Increasingly, fraudsters are hiding their activities by using multiple, disguised identities to perpetrate small and seemingly innocuous frauds, distributed across organisations on a massive scale. To combat this, NetReveal uses a series of new and advanced data analysis techniques to uncover the hidden relationships within social networks of people and data. The system allows investigators to view and interrogate suspicious networks of transactions, whilst it also prioritises the most suspicious networks.

In a ground-breaking project, the insurance industry recently pooled the data sources from UK insurers and formed the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB). Established to detect and deter serious and organised claims fraud across the UK, the underlying technology behind the IFB is NetReveal.

Imam Hoque, Director of Detica's Technology Innovation Group, commented: "The days are numbered for clever fraudsters that rely on hiding their activities below the radar screen of traditional anti-fraud systems. NetReveal is already proving to be a powerful system for discovering millions of pounds worth of previously hidden criminal activity. We believe that NetReveal offers the potential to uncover fraud in its billions, across a range of different industries."