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

Community banks know they need digital transformation in banking to stay competitive. They also know one bad launch can overwhelm a fraud team, frustrate customers, and torch years of trust. So today we're going beyond the headline case study to unpack how one community bank actually pulled it off.

I'm joined by Omar Hamden, Chief Experience Officer at Vault.Bank, and Jorge Garcia, CEO of Linker Finance, to talk about how a 120-year-old community bank in Broadhead, Wisconsin turned itself into a digital brand, without opening the door to the fraud everyone assumes comes with it.

Omar didn’t want a system that approved everyone or treated every customer like a suspect. He wanted risk-based account opening that could actually tell the difference, and it worked. Fraud losses in digital banking at Vault have stayed close to zero since launch, with onboarding now taking about three minutes, funding included.

Most banks assume digital growth means a bigger fraud team. Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with two people. That's it. No army of analysts, just the right core banking integration and automation in place from day one.

Jorge breaks down why vendor selection for community bank leaders, not the technology, is usually the real blocker for community banks trying to launch digitally, and how Linker built a turnkey approach so Vault didn't have to stitch together a dozen point solutions on its own.

The numbers back all of it up. Vault grew deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate, and customer retention rate sits close to 90%. If your institution is weighing a digital brand launch in community banking, this digital banking case study is the one to send to your board.

• How Vault.Bank and Linker Finance came together to launch a digital-only brand for a community bank under $300 million in assets.
• Why risk-based account opening matters more than trying to hit zero fraud alerts.
• How identity verification and KYC digital onboarding got built to satisfy auditors without slowing down real customers.
• Why Vault runs its entire fraud and onboarding operation with a team of two people, and how core banking integration and automated decisioning make that possible.
• How vendor selection for community bank leaders became the real blocker in digital brand launches, more than the technology itself.
• The deposit growth strategies for banks that helped Vault grow deposits 16% year over year, five times its prior growth rate.
• Why customer retention rate matters just as much as acquisition, and how nearly 90% retention changed the growth conversation.
• What's next as Vault plans national digital banking expansion beyond Wisconsin.

• Community bank leaders considering a digital brand launch in community banking.
• Fraud and risk professionals evaluating fraud losses in digital banking and looking for real, verifiable numbers.
• Bank executives weighing vendor selection for community bank technology partnerships.
• Anyone curious how lean fraud team operations actually work without a large analyst team.
• Community banks exploring small business lending and neobank technology in community banks as growth levers.
• Boards and leadership teams trying to build the business case for bank compliance automation and best of breed banking technology.

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

This episode opens a little differently. And if you are not paying close attention, you will probably believe it was me. It sounds like me, it looks like me, but every bit of it is a deepfake created with artificial intelligence in about twenty minutes for less than five dollars. That is not a future threat. That is today.

Andrew Austin is one of my favorite people to talk to because he does not do hype. He spends a lot of time exploring where emerging technology meets fraud risk. And this is one of the most practical conversations I have had on the show. We are not here to scare anyone. We are here to make sure fraud fighters understand exactly what they are up against and how organizations need to start thinking differently about deepfake fraud and AI voice cloning.

We walk through the full landscape of deepfake technology together, from voice cloning to live face swapping to lip sync. We talk about what each one costs, how convincing each one is, and where criminals are already using deepfake scams today. Andrew breaks down why identity verification is the most vulnerable point for financial institutions right now, why real time detection of AI-generated content is still an unsolved problem, and why fraudsters do not need Hollywood quality deepfakes to be effective. They just need to be convincing enough.

We do not stop at the threat. We spend the second half of the conversation talking about defenses, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, consortium data, friction design, and why employee awareness and organizational culture still matter as much as any technology investment. Andrew also shares what excites him about where AI is headed on the fraud fighting side, and what he thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraud.

Fraud has always been built on manipulating trust. AI does not change that. It just gives criminals a far more convincing disguise.

• How Andrew created a convincing deepfake in twenty minutes for less than five dollars, and what that means for fraud teams
• The difference between voice cloning, live face swapping, and lip sync technology, and the distinct fraud risk each one creates
• Why deepfake scams do not need to be perfect to work, and how criminals are already exploiting that reality
• Where financial institutions are most vulnerable to AI-generated content right now, and why onboarding and IDV top the list
• Why real time detection of AI-generated video content is still not a solved problem
• How device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and consortium data work together to close the gaps IDV alone cannot cover
• Why employee awareness and organizational culture are just as important as any technology investment
• What Andrew thinks every CISO should already have on their roadmap to combat AI fraud
• Where AI is creating real operational efficiency gains on the fraud fighting side, and why Andrew is genuinely excited about it

• Lead fraud, risk, compliance, or financial crimes at a bank, credit union, fintech, or neobank
• Are responsible for identity verification, onboarding design, or authentication strategy
• Want a practical, non-sensational breakdown of what deepfake scams and AI voice cloning actually look like today
• Are building or updating your fraud program and want to understand where AI fraud risk fits into your existing controls
• Are new to fraud and want to understand how emerging technology is reshaping what fraud fighters need to know

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

I always say fraud is a team sport, and this episode is exactly why.

I recorded these conversations live from the ACFE fraud conference in Boston, sitting down with five fraud fighters who each bring a completely different piece of the puzzle. Law enforcement. Banking. Government. Fintech. BSA. Investigations. Every single one of them came back to the same point: we cannot fight fraud alone, and the silos we work in are one of the biggest advantages we are handing to fraudsters.

Marc Evans opened the conversation by making the case that fraud analyst training has to be rooted in real cases, not theory. Linda Miller followed with one of the most honest takes of the day: the organizations waiting for regulatory guidance before building their AI governance frameworks are already behind. Tracy Swaim added something I had never heard framed so cleanly, that document fraud is a context problem, not a technology problem. And Dustin Eaton brought it back to the data: clean, collective information is the edge, and fraudsters are counting on us not having it.

Jen Lamont closed it out with a reminder that hit close to home. For every fraud fighter who cannot make it to a conference like this, the knowledge is still out there. Podcasts, white papers, LinkedIn, local and international fraud associations. This community is one of the most generous there is.

And if there is one thing I took away from all five conversations, it is this: fraudsters share everything with each other. Until we do the same, we are always playing catch-up.

• Why the ACFE fraud conference brings together fraud fighters from banking, government, law enforcement, fintech, and investigations under one roof
• How cross-sector fraud prevention helps organizations identify emerging threats faster
• Why breaking silos in fraud is one of the biggest opportunities facing our industry right now
• What Marc Evans has learned training new fraud analysts using real investigations and holistic case data
• Why AI governance is outpacing organizational readiness, and what Linda Miller says financial institutions should do before regulations catch up
• How Tracy Swaim reframes document fraud detection around interrogating context rather than authenticating the document itself
• Why clean and connected data is the foundation of effective AI-driven fraud prevention, according to Dustin Eaton
• How Jen Lamont approaches fraud analyst training, mentorship, and continuous learning for fraud teams at every level
• Career advice for new fraud fighters from five professionals who have built careers across every corner of this industry

• Attend fraud conferences and want practical ideas you can bring back to your team
• Lead a fraud, investigations, risk, or financial crimes program and want to strengthen cross-sector fraud prevention
• Are responsible for fraud analyst training or new fraud analyst onboarding
• Want to understand how AI governance and deepfake document fraud are reshaping the threat landscape
• Are early in your fraud career and want honest advice from professionals across banking, government, law enforcement, and fintech