According to University of Montréal criminology professor David Décary-Hétu, computer and software manufacturers, like banks, are failing in their responsibility to better protect against fraud and must be forced to do better.
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The scourge of fraud weighs heavily on citizens’ wallets. In 2022, losses reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center exceeded $500 million and we know many of these are never reported.
Fraud is made easier in the digital world and for Professor Décary-Hétu, who is very interested in the phenomenon, it is high time that the responsibility was placed elsewhere than on the shoulders of citizens.
“Should users have computer skills to use these tools? “There’s a lot of software and devices out there that don’t even have the basics of security in place,” he notes.
“The problem is that companies are trying to deliver products at the lowest possible cost, which means they ignore security and then put the burden on users’ shoulders,” he adds.
The professor believes it is high time to force suppliers to offer security products.
Professor of Criminology David Décary-Hétu at the University of Montreal
Banks have the tools
In addition, financial institutions still have a lot to do to increase the protection of their customers’ assets.
“How come no red lights come on on serial transmissions?” he wonders.
Professor Décary-Hétu argues that many artificial intelligence tools can detect fraud and automatically freeze bank accounts, but that banks underuse them because they don’t want to manage customers whose accounts are to be unblocked.
A simple solution, the professor said, would be to add a 24-hour delay before a transfer reaches its recipient. In many cases, this would have enabled the victims to take action to recover their money.
“When you buy a car today, technology offers a lot of support to the driver to avoid accidents, but on the banking side, all these tools that could protect us from ourselves are not necessarily implemented and mandatory,” he laments .
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