Wire Transfer Authentication

The latest wave of wire transfer scams frighteningly illustrate this tendency. A scammer infiltrates a victim’s bank account and initiates a wire transfer. The process prompts for a PIN to be sent to the victim’s device. The scammer then calls that victim with a spoofed number appearing to come from the bank itself. “Someone is trying to transfer money from your account. We need to verify that it’s not you. When you receive the PIN, please read it back to me and I’ll stop that transfer.” The victim, thinking they’re talking to the bank, receives the PIN and reads it back to the scammer, who then enters it and transfers the money they claimed to be stopping.

Once the victim realizes they’ve been cheated, they call the bank for a refund. The bank says they won’t provide the refund, because the user abetted the scam themselves. It’s a heartbreaking result. The victim barely has time to think, in their panic that they’re about to lose their funds. And the PINs that are meant to prevent theft are used by the thieves.

Password and PINs can be hijacked. But facial ID cannot be stolen. Having authID in place means legit customers must provide their face, which is checked for liveness and legitimacy. Up front or as an extra measure, this level of security means thieves cannot complete an illicit transfer. Because they’re not you. authID ensures that you, and only you, can move your money.