Velera Partners With The Knoble to Combat Financial Crimes

Credit union service organization Velera partnered with The Knoble to combat human crime, which includes human trafficking, child exploitation, financial scams, elder abuse and other forms of exploitation.

The Knoble is a nonprofit organization dedicated to disrupting human crime by collaborating with professionals from financial services and other fields, according to a Wednesday (Dec. 18) press release.

“Financial crimes and related scams are among the most significant issues our credit unions and their members are facing,” Velera Vice President of Risk Engagement Nicole Reyes said in the release. “Velera is dedicated to doing everything within its power to prevent and combat these crimes, and our new partnership with The Knoble — and the hundreds of other participating financial institutions — will further strengthen our ability to do that.”

Professionals from more than 565 financial institutions have partnered with The Knoble, according to the release.

Financial institutions are “uniquely positioned” to stop human crimes because they “are on the frontlines of a majority of human crimes,” the release said.

The Knoble works with financial services partners to increase awareness of human crimes, show how financial clues can be used to fight these crimes, and collaborate to develop and share new solutions and processes, per the release.

“Our central belief is that human crime has a money trail, and we cannot afford to ignore it,” The Knoble Director of Partnerships Ken Goins said in the release. “With the support and resources of strong financial industry partners like Velera, we are confident we can better follow that trail and stop human crime at the source.”

A Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) review of Bank Secrecy Act data found that there was more than $27 billion in reported suspicious activity related to elder financial exploitation during a 12-month period ending in June 2023.

In an earlier, separate report, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said in April that the number of complaints of elder fraud increased by 14% in 2023, while the associated losses rose by 11%.

When announcing Velera’s introduction of an identity security/authentication tool in August, Amy Evans, Velera’s senior vice president for strategic network solutions, said in a press release that the potential for fraud continues to grow along with the increase in digital capabilities and payments offerings.

“IDCheck supports an omnichannel fraud fighting and prevention strategy to safeguard credit unions and their members participating in Co-op Shared Branch,” Evans said of the new tool.