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Farrukh Hussain, Vice President, Fraud Strategy & Special Investigation at TD Insurance shares insights around how TD Insurance is fighting fraud to help protect Canadians. TD Insurance is a leading direct to consumer insurance group in Canada offering car, home, life and travel insurance for all personal needs and customized commercial coverage tailored to small businesses.
Équité: For Fraud Prevention Month, what type of insurance fraud would you like to raise awareness about and why?
- FH: For Fraud Prevention Month, we want to focus on education and the importance of identifying and reporting fraud. Current economic conditions, supply chain constraints and advancements in technology have fueled the increase in fraudulent opportunities seen in the rise of vehicle thefts, identity theft, vendor fraud and accident/medical benefits fraud attempts.
Educating Canadians on potential threats they may be exposed to is crucial in helping protect their assets. Opportunistic fraud is on the rise with fraudsters inflating real losses often with misguidance from service providers, like auto repair shops and tow operators, looking to make quick cash commonly without any knowledge of the client. Accident benefits service provider fraud is a prime example of fraudsters taking advantage of the insurance product and the insurer providing coverage for the care the injured client requires to heal. Inflating invoices, or billing for services not rendered, compromises the trust our industry strives to deliver during these difficult events.
Insurance fraud is not only a crime but a breach of trust that affects our customers and industry. It's more important than ever to stand united to fight fraud to help protect Canadians when they need us most.
Équité: How have fraud trends changed overtime?
- FH: Fraud trends have evolved with advancements in technology. As we all have become more comfortable in using technology as part of daily lives, fraudsters have increased the sophistication in their tactics. Fraudsters have easier access to the technology and tools to gain access to your information and conduct organized fraud schemes, at a much faster pace. It's important for everyone to be diligent when sharing personal information, especially when it comes to buying insurance. As a direct Insurer, TD Insurance does not sell insurance via third-party brokers. There are instances of false brokers also known as “ghost brokers”, who misrepresent themselves as insurance brokers, and illicitly obtain insurance policies on behalf of innocent Canadians, often targeting new Canadians exploiting their inexperience with purchasing insurance in Canada. This type of fraud can leave individuals uninsured, unprotected, and legally vulnerable. When purchasing insurance, it's important to speak with an insurance professional who is properly licensed and qualified to sell insurance.
Équité: What is your organization doing to protect your clients and the communities they live in from the impacts of insurance fraud?
- FH: Our mission at TD Insurance is to care for Canadian families, making it easy to get the best advice, protection, and support in their moments of need, always. Whether it's raising awareness of fraud or providing our customers with the tools and knowledge they need, we believe that we all have a crucial role to play.
To raise customer awareness around trends in car theft, I recently spoke on Breakfast Television to provide tips and advice on how Canadians can protect their vehicles. These tips can also be found on our website, available for all Canadians to better protect themselves against vehicle theft.
TD Insurance continues to support our customers with high-risk vehicles, by offering discounts to our policyholders who have installed an approved anti-theft tracking system or immobilizer in their vehicles. We've seen great success in recovering stolen vehicles with an anti-theft device installed. We strive to deter fraud from taking place and build our customers’ resilience to protect their property from harm. Our continued partnership with Équité and its member insurers helps us to fight and reduce insurance fraud across Canada.
Équité: How is technology influencing how you approach fraud detection?
- FH: As insurance fraud in Canada continues to become more sophisticated, it's crucial for TD Insurance to enhance our security measures to stay ahead of fraudulent activity and better protect our customers. TD Insurance uses advanced AI-analytical models to detect fraud, find anomalies, and identify suspicious indicators of fraud in both our personal lines policies and claims along with our newly expanded small business commercial insurance products. By using AI-driven detection and analytics, we help our detection and prevention teams better understand, identify, and more accurately prevent fraud faster.
Insurers are doing more than ever before to protect their customers, and by joining Équité Association, members have access to specific anti-fraud expertise designed to prevent and disrupt insurance crime. Fraud Prevention Month is an annual awareness campaign, which aims to educate Canadians on how to recognize and protect themselves from becoming a victim of fraud. Fraud always has a victim, and criminals typically target those who are the most vulnerable. In collaboration with Équité Association, our members are working to protect Canadians against insurance crimes, a top priority rooted in public safety.
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