Australian AI spots dodgy deals that look like money laundering.
AUSTRAC, Australia's financial intelligence agency, is training a machine learning system to sift millions of transactions for criminal activity.
WHEN it comes to following the money, the authorities have their work cut out. Every year, criminals are thought to launder more than $1.5 trillion worldwide. Which is why Australia’s financial intelligence agency is turning to AI for help.
In Australia, the scale of the problem could amount to some US$4.5 billion annually. There, the task of cracking down on illegally obtained funds falls to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). It faces a growing challenge in combing through up to 100 million transactions a year, looking for suspicious activity. “It’s just become harder and harder for us to keep up with the volume and to have a clear conscience that we are actually on top of our data,” says Pauline Chou at AUSTRAC.
To tackle the problem, the agency teamed up with researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne. Together they developed a machine learning system to identify suspicious activity. Simple signs that a group is involved in money laundering might include large cash payments or properties being bought and then quickly sold.
Genuine red flags are rarely that obvious, however, as money launderers are getting better at making transactions look innocuous, says Chou. Previous detection systems have tried to catch suspicious behaviour by ..
No comments:
Post a Comment