What’s up fraud fighters, and welcome back to Fraud Forward!

I am bringing you more from here at IAFCI in Nashville. I've caught up with fraud fighters, bank executives, and law enforcement leaders for a rapid-fire soundcheck on where fraud is headed. I've been asking everyone I sit down with the same question. If you had one word to describe fraud in 2026, what would it be? The answers ranged from trending and explosive, to complex, and evolving. Sometimes fraud couldn't be contained by only one word. Honestly, they all fit.

There were so many great conversations this week. They didn't fit into one episode. They barely fit into two. So this episode is a rapid series of conversations covering everything from bust out fraud to elder fraud prevention, dealership schemes, and where IAFCI itself is headed under new leadership. Every one of these conversations left me with something I want to bring straight back to you. These conversations are not just about what we are facing. But also how we can overcome the rising challenges in our community, the tools, the collaboration, and the partnerships between law enforcement and banking that are only getting stronger.

Let's get into it.

• Why bust out fraud is being called a real hot topic right now. How these rings are migrating away from California and Florida as enforcement catches up.
• How auto lending fraud, first party fraud, and income misrepresentation are showing up together. Why leaning on consortium data and application data fraud signals is more important than relying on credit reports alone.
• How dealerships that barely exist are financing cars that were never actually delivered.
• Why business email compromise is still a top concern on the commercial banking side, and the stop call and confirm habit that stops it cold.
• Building a fraud prevention platform started with understanding the problem firsthand by moving into senior living communities.
• A fresh way to think about scam education as a behavior change problem, not just an awareness problem.
• Why check fraud trends remain a serious concern for community bank fraud programs, even as fraudsters increasingly bring AI targeted fraud attacks to smaller institutions.
• How law enforcement bank collaboration through IAFCI industry working groups is turning strangers into the people you call when a case needs to move fast.
• What's ahead for IAFCI itself, including new fraud policy and regulation partnerships and a membership goal of 10,000 by the end of the current term.

• Work in auto lending, dealership finance, or first party fraud detection and want real, current examples of bust out fraud.
• Are on the commercial banking side and want a reminder of how effective stop call and confirm still is against business email compromise.
• Care about elder fraud prevention and want to hear how one approach was built from direct, in-person research.
• Lead fraud or risk at a community bank and want perspective on check fraud trends and AI targeted fraud attacks hitting smaller institutions.
• Believe law enforcement bank collaboration is underrated and want real examples of what that actually looks like in practice.
• Want a fast-moving, one-word-answer kind of episode that still leaves you with real, usable takeaways.