1. Cybercrime is the new black - is the food sector an exception?

In an everchanging world, financial crime has been keeping up with the new ways of working. Technology has allowed for a larger geographic reach than before, and new types of crimes are emerging. During COVID-19, the different types of crimes evolved. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as an inter-governmental body which operates as a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, have stated that cybercrime, in particular, has flourished during the pandemic. Malicious actors took advantage of these opportune conditions to exploit vulnerabilities in existing controls, or to bypass them completely. For example, when people work from home, the controls designed for the traditional office environment are not necessarily sufficient. Compliance professionals should scrutinize whether there are adequate controls in place to protect their staff and company from malicious cyber-attacks on their systems and procedures.

As new business-models develop, new types of attempts appear to maliciously benefit from them. Let's take an interesting example: gig-job economy. In the past few years, the gig economy has been growing tremendously, causing the rise of different types of scams in this industry sector. When you think about fraud, you generally think of embezzlement or other types of activities, which takes place in the financial sector. Gig economies have seen a rise in the number of potentially suspicious activities. For example, in the food delivery industry, where the pressure to ensure customer satisfaction and fast deliveries is high, the transactions can be subject to a lesser scrutiny and customer complaints are handled fast. As the average orders are also quite low in value, traditional triggers can potentially miss red flags and make the food delivery industry a tempting area for criminals to pursue.

The different ways of benefiting from the food delivery services can range from customer account takeovers and sale of customer accounts on the dark web to drug dealers using food delivery services to transport drugs during COVID-19 lockdowns. Interpol discovered that many countries now report an increasing number of cases where criminals used delivery networks, or pretended to be part of food delivery networks to deliver drugs and other illicit items hidden in delivery boxes.

The emerging new risks in this sector shows how much a robust compliance program can help to protect the companies, their customers and partners. What should a compliance officer in the food delivery sector do to prevent such behavior?

2. Compliance in the food sector

First of all, keep it simple - ensure that the basics are right. Although the service platforms differ from e.g. the financial sector to a great extent, certain things remain the same. Second, ensure sufficient due diligence process is on place about whom you operate with. This should extend not only to the customers of the service, but to the vendors, delivery companies and other partners. A sufficient due diligence process gives comfort in knowing whom we are working with, and what we are moving between the different parties. Knowing this will help you to build a steadier and more transparent model to track anomalies.

Many companies use third party vendors for suspicious behavior tracking, others build inhouse models. The key in both operational models is to understand how you expect the customer (in its largest definition) to behave when using the platform and what to do you when you find anomalies. The employees of the service platform are the sharpest assets of a company in combatting financial crime. This is particularly true for the food delivery industry. When the staff is committed and hungry for success, it is easier to see potential red flags. This makes education and training an investment well worth it.

How then to tackle the attempts of fraudsters and cyber criminals? It is hard to stay ahead of fraudsters, who constantly change their modus operandi and find new ways to exploit a platform or service provider. Yet, doing regular stress testing, scrutinizing the ins and outs of the controls and challenging the effectiveness are key actions to fight against the creativity of fraudsters. I also believe in exchange of experiences and developing best practices in the industry. Nobody wins if the fraudsters are not got caught - there is a strength in exchanging ideas and perspectives. This is one of the reasons why I think WEC is an excellent forum. A place where women from various industries can come together, exchange experiences and learn from each other in a safe environment make an impact on the financial crime sector, as well as any other field of compliance. It is refreshing to hear different experiences from people across the globe, some battling the same questions, others having similar situations but different ways of operating. It shows that with joining forces we can help each other to progress and make a long-lasting impact.

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What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Don't be so hard on yourself! perfectionism is not to be strived for. Be proud of your achievements and allow for the imperfection.

If you had to choose an alternative career, what would you be doing now?

Hard to say, I've always wanted to be a lawyer since elementary school. I guess if not working in Compliance and Financial Crime, I'd find criminology and sociology quite fascinating!

At the end of your career, if you were to sit and reflect, what one hope do you have?

That representation in companies look different than it still did in the 2020's. That the glass ceiling had been broken and that more women held board positions.