Originally published in Views The Eurofi Magazine – September 2026
According to Nasdaq Verafin’s Global Financial Crime Report, financial crime continues to reach new highs. The amount of illicit funds flowing through the financial system grew by more than a trillion dollars, rising to $4.4 trillion, while fraud and scam losses reached $579.4 billion globally in 2025, growing at 9.2% annually since 2023. Fraud scams alone — the authorized push payment schemes, romance frauds, and impersonation attacks that devastate consumers — surged to $62 billion, growing at more than double the rate of unauthorized fraud. Across EMEA, total fraud losses reached $132.9 billion, and $154.4 billion in illicit flows crossed EU borders in a single year. A key driver of these figures is the weaponization of artificial intelligence, used by criminals to scale their operations across every channel through which Europeans live their financial lives. And today we are at a critical inflection point to bolster our defenses and match this new reality.
A Threat Scaled by AI
Bad actors are often early adopters of new technology, which they will experiment with and use freely to gain an advantage over institutional defenses. Our research shows that criminals are already leveraging AI at speed and scale. We surveyed over 500 anti-financial crime professionals, and ninety percent reported an increase in AI-driven attacks at their institution.
AI-enabled hyper scams and deepfakes produce convincing, personalized fraud at industrial volume, making authorized push payment fraud so sophisticated it is often nearly impossible for consumers to detect. At the same time, criminal networks have commoditized fraud infrastructure by selling proven toolkits to other bad actors, enabling high-volume attacks with no technical expertise required.
The rise of authorized fraud and the fact that scams tend to originate outside of the financial system – on social media, in messaging platforms, and through dating apps – means banks are often the last line of defense. By the time a suspicious transaction reaches a bank, the victim has often been manipulated for days, or longer.
AI to Bolster Defenses
Traditional detection systems were not built for the world of AI and faster payments. They generate high false positive volumes while sophisticated fraud passes through. That procedural model is no longer adequate. We need to ensure that our financial institutions are equipped with the tools needed to fight AI-powered threats more efficiently and effectively.
The combination of AI and network-level data offers a path forward for the industry. Machine learning analytics trained on consortium data — drawn from activity across hundreds of millions of counterparties — detect fraud patterns invisible to any single bank in insolation, reducing false positives while delivering the context investigators need to act. Agentic AI can execute complex compliance workflows, reducing time spent on information gathering and the initial triage of fraud or AML alerts, freeing investigators for substantive risk assessment. When built on explainable AI frameworks that meet supervisory model risk management standards, these tools give regulators the auditability they require while giving institutions the efficiency they need.
A Collaborative Framework for Systemic Resilience
Effective fraud prevention also requires risk signals from outside the financial system. Scam victims are targeted on dating apps, recruited through social media, or manipulated via messaging platforms long before any payment is initiated. Financial institutions see scams at the point of transaction and law enforcement sees reports only after harm has occurred. Without a mechanism to connect those perspectives in real time, response efforts remain fragmented while criminals exploit every gap.
Responsibility for prevention must extend to all industries impacted by financial crime. There are already examples of what this looks like in practice. Banks, telecoms, and digital platforms can share verified scam indicators in real time so that scammers’ phone numbers get blocked, fraudulent ads get removed, and malicious sites get taken down. European consumers and businesses would benefit from this architecture, which looks to disrupt scams before victims are engaged and before funds move. By bringing together every industry impacted by fraud and scams, we can get ahead – and stay ahead – of criminal threats for good.
The Choice Ahead
The technology to defend Europe’s financial system exists today. What determines the outcome is whether regulatory frameworks allow institutions and the broader ecosystem of platforms and providers to deploy it at the speed the threat demands. Protecting European consumers cannot be accomplished institution-by-institution or jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction. By combining advanced AI with collective intelligence and shared accountability, we can disrupt criminal networks earlier, prevent harm before it occurs, and safeguard the financial system from both today’s risks and the threats of tomorrow.
About the Author:
STEPHANIE CHAMPION
EVP & Head of Nasdaq Verafin, Financial Crime Management Technology, Nasdaq
Stephanie Champion is Executive Vice President, Head of Nasdaq Verafin, which provides industry-leading solutions for anti-financial crime. She has over 16 years experience at Nasdaq Verafin and previously served as Senior Vice President, Head of Sales for Nasdaq Financial Crime Management Technology business, leading global sales strategy and operations across the Nasdaq Verafin organization with a focus on new customer acquisition and retention. Stephanie is passionate about leadership, supporting women in technology and guiding others through professional development and success. Stephanie holds a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from Memorial University.
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