Digital Fraud and IT Services – Understanding the Risks and Dependencies
Digital fraud is no longer a distant threat — new cases make headlines every week, and the question for many is no longer if they could be targeted, but when.
At the same time, fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated. AI can now be used to create highly convincing messages, voices, images and videos, while high-impact deepfake scams are bringing new dimensions to the threat. As more of our financial lives move into the digital world, understanding both the risks and how to use digital services securely has never been more important.
In this session, we will explore the Trident Digital Fraud Resilience Framework and how it can help organizations and individuals strengthen their resilience against increasingly sophisticated scams. Based on a real case, we will examine practical approaches to preventing fraud and responding effectively when fraud occurs.
We will also take a closer look at the regulatory landscape: how regulators are responding to the growing threat of digital fraud, what measures they are introducing, and what this means for the future of fraud prevention.
Join me to understand how digital fraud is evolving — and what can be done to stay one step ahead.
AI Summary
Disclaimer: This session information was generated with the help of AI.
The information has been reviewed and refined by the Swiss Cyber Storm team before publishing.
Andres Maurer dissects a real SIM-swapping case in which fraudsters combined a malicious SMS link, a stolen passport copy and Apple Wallet access to drain credit cards for five days, while the telecommunications provider treated it as a technical fault. Arguing that detection alone cannot keep pace with AI-driven fraud, he introduces the Trident Digital Fraud Resilience Framework: governance and a fraud taxonomy as the base, with prevention, detection and remediation prongs. He then compares FINMA’s new digital fraud guidance with Singapore’s more mature shared responsibility model.
Video chapters
0:00Introduction and speaker background2:43A real-life SIM-swapping case9:47Global fraud losses and their drivers13:56Trident Digital Fraud Resilience Framework16:28Applying Trident to the SIM-swap case21:39Quick wins through taxonomy and awareness22:55FINMA's digital fraud guidance24:31Singapore's shared responsibility model26:31Final takeaways28:53Q&A on the future of fraud
Key facts
- In the case presented, the fraudster failed 14 times to SIM swap the victim because the calls came from a foreign number, and succeeded on the 15th attempt using a new number obtained with the victim's partner's passport copy.
- Nasdaq Verafin's annual financial crime report estimated 2025 global fraud losses at 580 billion US dollars, while the FBI recorded 17.7 billion US dollars in reported fraud claims in the United States.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) declared in December 2024 that SMS is not secure for two-factor authentication (2FA).
- FINMA guidance 02/2026 requires financial institutions to manage digital fraud risk within their operational risk framework and addresses deepfakes and synthetic identities in online account opening.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore's shared responsibility model sets out a waterfall reimbursement in which financial institutions, then telecommunications providers, must prove they acted correctly before losses fall to the consumer.
Ideas
- Weak account migration and recovery processes enabled the attack: once a SIM swap succeeds, one-time codes sent by SMS hand the attacker the victim's accounts.
- Fraudsters increasingly target platform accounts such as Apple ID and Google accounts, because they now hold wallet data and passkeys.
- Organizations should shift from pure detection to resilience, using a governance base with a continuously maintained fraud taxonomy plus prevention, detection and remediation prongs.
- Remediation is where many companies lag: speed is essential to interrupt in-flight transactions or recover funds, and providers must work out how to keep attackers out of an account shared with its legitimate owner.
- Customer awareness that promotes secure behavior increases fraud resistance without writing a single line of code.
Keywords
- SIM swapping
- fraud taxonomy
- account recovery
- FINMA
- digital fraud
- resilience
Quotes
- “You cannot protect what you don't know.”
- “And very important: make sure you have a robust authentication and recovery mechanism without SMS.”
- “Sometimes either no one is responsible or everyone is responsible.”
Recommendations
- Replace SMS-based one-time codes with robust authentication and account recovery mechanisms, and train staff alongside technical controls to spot SIM-swap attempts.
- Assign clear ownership for digital fraud and treat it as a team sport combining fraud investigation, cyber security, threat intelligence, behavioral intelligence and know your customer (KYC) expertise.
- Prepare consumers to react quickly: restrict card usage regions, enable transaction notifications, and know how to cancel cards, deactivate wallets and reset platform passwords.
Resources
- Trident Digital Fraud Resilience Framework — Framework — Provides a structure for organizations to build resilience against digital fraud, starting from a fraud taxonomy.
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) weekly review — Report — Helps defenders and consumers keep up with current fraud techniques in Switzerland.
- Monetary Authority of Singapore Shared Responsibility Framework — Framework — Illustrates how regulation can allocate liability for fraud losses through a waterfall reimbursement model.
About the speaker
Andres Maurer
Executive Chairman
at
prod ag
Andres Maurer started his career after his computer science studies as an IT Project Manager with ABB.
This was followed by different roles as an IT consultant and internal IT Manager.
His IT Security career began when he joined Prod AG as a partner and worked on IAM project contracts for Credit Suisse and SwissRe.
Later, he joined UBS, working first in Cyber Security Services and then in Digital Security where he was responsible for Secure Client Connectivity, before rebooting Prod AG.
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