The start of the new year also marks Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time to reflect on the resilience of trafficking survivors and recognise the efforts of those looking to eradicate the inhumane abuse and exploitation. Ensuring everyone can play their part in achieving this, NICE Actimize, the crime and compliance management solution provider and NICE business, has launched its ‘Guide to Investigating Human Trafficking in Financial Crime’.
The NICE Actimize guide provides insights on how to properly detect, investigate and respond to unusual activities detected by frontline employees or by systematic identification. It also includes red flags, case examples, and practical response steps. The guide will be available exclusively for members of The Knoble Network, an alliance of financial service professionals, law enforcement, regulators, and NGOs joining forces to fight human crime.
The guide is just one way in which NICE Actimize is working with The Knoble to inform and provide financial institutions with a means of proactively defending and preventing human trafficking and other human crimes from taking place.
Craig Costigan, CEO, NICE Actimize said: “NICE Actimize believes strongly in the importance of providing the latest research to the front lines of financial institutions which may be experiencing activity that is potentially aligned to human trafficking – from the front-desk tellers to those analysts investigating suspicious activity and transactions.
“Our insights provide a valuable resource to help financial institutions take preventative measures to identify and stop these crimes. We continue to invest in solutions and advanced technologies that detect human crimes, like trafficking, elder abuse, and more.”
Identifying crime and dealing with it
According to the guide, anyone can identify human trafficking signs – it doesn’t just need to be the HR departments. NICE Actimize researched and surveyed organisations of all sizes, speaking to front-line banking employees and back-end office analysts.
It found that financial activities linked to human trafficking can converge with financial institutions and money services businesses at various stages. These include recruitment, transportation, exploitation, and financial transactions. These transactions may involve payments for transporting and housing victims, as well as collecting proceeds from their exploitation and moving funds.
Traffickers often launder proceeds through legitimate businesses to support trafficking operations. FIs and money service businesses may inadvertently facilitate these transactions if they are not vigilant.
