Fraud, scams and counterfeiting – jargon that has filtered into the lexicons of financial institutions – are taking their toll, and Community Bank has turned to TRC Interactive, Inc. to deliver First Line of Defense, realizing that mere technology is no longer sufficient to prevent these threats.

First Line of Defense program bases its premise on the fact that trained personnel is one of the most effective ways to prevent fraud, according to officials. It offers interactive and engaging fraud training to help financial institutions identify and prevent fraud attempts.

TRC Interactive is a respected training organization, and for over 39 years has been helping to successfully train bank and credit union employees by offering them state-of-the-art solutions to meet all their needs.

With technology change, the modus operandi of scammers also changes, making it next to impossible to predict the next trend in fraud. Trained employees therefore need to be able to spot it before the bank or credit union becomes a victim, which is what TRC Interactive aims to do with its First Line of Defense program.

The system offers training with a mixture of classroom, online, blended, virtual, customized and off-the-shelf solutions. Each individual challenge in First Line of Defense program is a simulation that replicates the transaction experience. This program is updated quarterly with new interactions.

Each update will include 10-12 challenges and can be completed in less than 30 minutes. The challenges cover all the possible scenarios and all the different ways that financial institutions can be defrauded.

By teaching staff members how to identify fraud, Community Bank hopes to protect itself and its customers. The training sharpens the alertness and focus of participants in their attempts to identify potential fraudulent items.

According to BankInfoSecurity's, survey, 58 percent of financial institutions are expecting increased fraud-fighting resources in 2012. It also suggests that allocating those resources to the training of staff is very important.

TMCnet reports Santam, a major short-term insurance company in South Africa, has saved $2.4 million on fraudulent claims in the first four months of using IBM (News - Alert) business analytics software. The analytics software has enhanced Santam's fraud detection capabilities and enabled faster payouts for legitimate claims.