What The Fraud?

Unlicensed operators and AI-enabled fraud are scaling faster than most safeguards. Regulators, operators, and tech providers are being forced to rethink what “player protection” actually means, and how to enforce it across borders. This is Part 1 of 2 special episodes of the What The Fraud? podcast, recorded live at ICE Barcelona.

Guest host Kris Galloway, iGaming Product Evangelist speaks with Olabimpe Akingba, Head of Responsible Gaming at pawaTech, Ludovico Calvi, Honorary Presidentof United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports, and Sarah Gardner, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at UK Gambling Commission, about where the market is breaking: responsible gaming that goes beyond box-ticking, industrialised fraud networks, underage exposure risks, and the uncomfortable reality that no single stakeholder can solve this alone.

They dig into what actually moves the needle: better use of data, clearer player education, and tighter cooperation between regulators, operators, technology providers, and law enforcement. The takeaway is simple: safe, sustainable gaming will be decided by how well the industry can coordinate enforcement and prevention across jurisdictions, not by adding more isolated controls.

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"We can't possibly think of victims as being stupid." We often think of fraud victims as gullible or careless. But what if the real story is about ruthless targeting by increasingly sophisticated criminals? What if AI, deepfakes and quantum computing are making it impossible to tell what's real anymore?

Our guest in this episode is Alex Wood, counter fraud expert, international keynote speaker, part of the BBC Radio 4 Scam Secrets team and, in a former life, a prolific fraudster who spent 20 years defrauding victims of millions before serving three prison sentences and turning his life around. Alex joins host Thomas Taraniuk to discuss the sophistication shift, where fraud attempts are dropping but success rates are climbing, powered by AI that makes attacks more targeted and devastating.

From his former life recruiting English women as callers for organised crime networks to his current work advising the Home Office on Hawala money laundering networks funding small boat crossings, this episode reveals the insider perspective businesses need to hear. Alex explains why prison was a breeding ground for fraud conspiracies rather than a deterrent, how ChatGPT would have made him ten times more prolific and harder to catch, and why the fake Duke of Marlborough scam worked for seven months simply because luxury hotels refused to share data with competitors.

Whether you're protecting your business or trying to spot the red flags in your own life, this conversation offers crucial insights into the criminal mind, the collaboration gaps that fraudsters exploit, and why the next frontier might be quantum computing breaking military grade encryption in minutes rather than months.

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Thomas Taraniuk on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomtaraniuk
Alex Wood on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/beatfraud/
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"Last year, only one in 10 fraud attempts were sophisticated enough to fool modern verification systems. This year, that number's nearly tripled. Amateur fraudsters are out and professionals who know exactly how to beat our defences are in."

The fraud landscape is undergoing a complete transformation. Whilst overall fraud attempts have dropped by 50%, the attacks that do occur are nearly three times more sophisticated than last year. We're witnessing the rise of coordinated, AI-powered professional operations that combine multiple attack vectors simultaneously.

Our guest is Artem Popov, Technical Product Manager for Fraud Prevention Solution at Sumsub, who joins host Thomas Taraniuk to discuss findings from Sumsub's annual Identity Fraud Report, analysing over 4 million fraud attempts globally.

From AI-generated synthetic identities and deepfakes fooling liveness checks to telemetry tampering that attacks verification systems themselves, this episode exposes sophisticated techniques targeting industries worldwide. Artem explains how ID cards account for 72% of fraudulent documents, why Kenya now sees deepfakes in 10% of fraud attempts, and how romance scams combine emotional manipulation with synthetic identities. This conversation offers crucial insights into the multi-layered defences needed to stay ahead of professional fraud networks investing real money, time, and talent into beating your systems.

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Thomas Taraniuk on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomtaraniuk
Artem Popov on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/system29a/
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The fraudsters have already figured out what most financial institutions haven't yet: silos don't work. While your fraud team, cyber team and compliance team operate independently with separate tools and data, criminals are exploiting the gaps between them at an industrial scale.

This is part two of two special episodes recorded live at the WTF? Summit in Singapore. Host Thomas Taraniuk sits down with T Raja Kumar, former president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Holly Fang from the Singapore FinTech Association, and Pasi Koistinen, CISO at Coinhako, to discuss what happens when AI becomes both weapon and shield in the fight against financial crime.

T Raja Kumar reveals why cutting off money flows matters more than raiding scam compounds, Holly Fang explains why ASEAN's fragmented data sharing laws are a fraudster's playground, and Pasi Koistinen makes the case that your separate fraud, cyber and compliance systems are exactly what criminals count on. From satellite connected fraud as a service operations to the uncomfortable truth that compliance teams lack the AI skills they desperately need, this conversation cuts through the optimism.

If Part 1 was about cross industry collaboration, Part 2 is about getting your own house in order first. Because before you can share threat data across borders, you need to share it across your own departments.

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Thomas Taraniuk on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomtaraniuk
T Raja Kumar on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/t-raja-kumar-0766317a/
Holly Fang on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hollyhfang/
Pasi Koistinen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pasikoistinen/
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The financial crime battlefield is shifting. What used to be separate fights against fraud and money laundering has merged into one coordinated attack on the global financial system. As scammers drain accounts and launder proceeds through mule networks faster than banks can respond, APAC is becoming ground zero for a new kind of financial warfare.

Recorded live at the WTF? Summit in Singapore, this is part one of two special episodes bringing together frontline defenders. Host Thomas Taraniuk sits down with Hassan Ahmed from Coinbase Singapore, Karthik Ramanathan from Mastercard, and Caryn Leong from ACAMS to discuss how the industry is responding to an evolving threat landscape.

From sophisticated deepfakes to money vanishing across borders in minutes, this conversation reveals why fraud networks work together seamlessly while banks are struggling to share data. Hassan explains why Singapore's proactive approach to digital assets sets the standard for Asia, Karthik reveals how mule accounts are the real battleground (not the final transaction), and Caryn makes the case for why compliance teams need to act like crisis responders, not process managers.

If you're building in payments, crypto, or financial services across APAC, this episode is your reality check on what's coming in 2026 and why speed matters more than perfection.

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Thomas Taraniuk on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomtaraniuk
Hassan Ahmed on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hassanahmed3
Karthik Ramanathan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/karthik-ramanathan-446738
Caryn Leong on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carynleong/
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