There used to be question of how much gold, silver and
jewels might be worth, but in todays digital world, a virtual peer-to-peer
currency has taken charge. The outcome of which leaves us strongly questioning
how much value this virtual currency actually carries. The most popular example
of this currency is BitCoin.
Launched in 2009, the currency has been a highly controversial commodity with
massive, recent crashes and multiple security concerns. Over a short period of
time the value of BitCoins has soared and has become very attractive to
fraudsters and money launderers.
Virtual currency and digital wallet technology is highly
anonymous and similar to online banking. BitCoins are useful but limited. And
they can be repurposed to facilitate criminal acts and launder illicit proceeds
with little tracking of whos doing it. The crime happens when victims
accounts are hacked or fake coins are cashed out. This can take seconds with
advanced fraudsters.
Anti-money laundering professionals are in a constant state
of monitoring and educating with the advances in technologies and fraud
activity. But they cant do it alone. Financial
institutions need to be aware of this fraudulent activity as well. This can
be difficult because of limited budgets for fraud prevention
services & systems and money laundering solutions. These limited
budgets prevent updates to information sharing processes and systems.
Out-of-date systems and equipment raise the level of risks and losses. Implementing
fraud prevention solutions can assist in the regulation of money laundering and
the protection of your company. Through id
verification and authentication there can start to be a standard for
virtual peer-to-peer exchange.
[Contributed by EVS Marketing]
