Ex-Fraudster vs Compliance Leaders: What we learned about AI, deepfakes, and the new fraud law

Alex, a self-described "reformed poacher turned Gamekeeper", spent 25 years committing serious financial crime, everything from ID-based fraud to multi-million-pound authorised push payment fraud. He's now on a mission to make amends after witnessing the devastation his actions caused, including a victim who suffered a stroke, depression, and alcoholism after losing £1.3 million.

Here are the key takeaways for every risk and compliance professional.

The law’s wide net: Does the failure to prevent fraud offence scare criminals?

The new Failure to Prevent Fraud offence, which came into force on 1st September 2025, has been a major talking point. Alex, who consulted on the Act, noted that it casts a "very, very wide net".

The key detail: It doesn't just hold directors to account - it covers employees, agents, subsidiaries, or people associated with the company. The legislation was born out of the collapse of a high-profile SFO prosecution, proving the need to hold organisations to account when it comes to fraud prevention.

The price of fraud: Why criminals see prison as an 'Occupational Hazard'

If the government is legislating heavily, why do fraudsters keep going? As Alex revealed, criminals don't care about the legislation. The deterrent is simply too low.

A serious fraud offence that could ruin lives often results in only two years of actual time served for a white-collar offender, typically in an open prison. Alex shared a chilling comparison he heard from a drug smuggler:

• A drug smuggler risks 25 years in prison and a multi-million-pound investment to make £10m.

• A fraudster can make the same £10m with minimal investment (often just an iPhone) and risks only about two years in prison.

The crux: Fraud is the largest crime type, accounting for 41% of reported crime. However, a staggering 83% of fraud goes unreported. Many victims, even an ultra-high net worth client who lost £3 million, are too embarrassed to report what happened.

Meet your new adversary: The deepfake AI fraudster

Alex explained that while the core of fraud - the false representation - is timeless, the delivery is now terrifyingly efficient thanks to AI.

The frightening reality: With a mere three-minute voice sample, a fraudster can create a 99% accurate clone of anybody’s voice. Imagine a cashier getting a call from the "CEO," whose voice is deepfaked and phone number spoofed, demanding an urgent payment. That cashier would need to be "very, very brave" to question the instruction.

The fix: We can't rely on digital verification alone. Alex suggests internal 'safe words' for family/businesses or, as panellist Eloise Butterworth noted, resorting to a multi-factor authentication that includes a non-digital step, even if that's hard in a hybrid working world.

Don't get complacent: Two steps to staying ahead

Alex's final, practical advice for law firms was clear:

1. Truly know your client (and their Source of Funds). Go beyond checking boxes; you need to understand where the money is really coming from.

2. Apply the 'Sniff Test'. If a transaction, even one involving a supposed billionaire, doesn't seem reasonable or feels odd, it's "worthy of really some further digging". Don't let fee-earners put pressure on compliance teams to rush things over the line.

Fraudsters constantly adapt. To protect your clients and your business, you need a compliance process that is equally adaptive, easy to use, and human-centred.