Guest: Eric Boles
Today we are talking about something that does not get nearly enough attention in fraud prevention.
What happens after the fraud.
Most fraud teams spend the majority of their time trying to stop attacks before they happen. Detection models. rules. alerts. decisioning systems. All of that matters.
But sometimes fraud still gets through.
And when it does, the next question becomes pretty important.
What do you do about it?
That is exactly what today’s guest has spent much of his career answering.
I am joined by Eric Boles, a former special agent with the United States Secret Service and a former leader of e-crime investigations at companies like StubHub, Yahoo, and AOL.
Eric has spent decades investigating cybercrime, building cases against fraud rings, and working with law enforcement to pursue accountability.
And in one case we talk about during this episode, those investigations resulted in something many companies assume is impossible.
Seven-figure fraud ring restitution.
Yeah.
That does not happen by accident.
Here is what fraud ring restitution looks like in practice:
- Companies building strong cybercrime investigations internally
- Fraud investigations teams working closely with law enforcement
- Evidence gathered across dozens or hundreds of related accounts
- Post-transaction investigations leading to asset seizure and restitution
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- How fraud investigations teams uncover organized fraud rings
- Why post-transaction investigations are often overlooked in fraud programs
- How fraud case building supports law enforcement fraud cases
- Why companies should invest in dedicated cybercrime investigations
- How financial restitution fraud cases can return stolen money to victims
You should listen to this episode if you:
- Work in ecommerce fraud investigations or financial crime teams
- Are building a fraud investigations team inside your company
- Care about fraud loss recovery and fraud ring detection
- Work with law enforcement on cybercrime investigations
- Want to understand how online fraud prosecution actually happens
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Episode notes & key takeaways
Why post-transaction investigations matter in fraud prevention
Let’s break this down.
Most companies focus heavily on stopping fraud before it happens. That makes sense. Preventing fraud at the point of transaction protects revenue and customer trust.
But once fraud has already occurred, many organizations simply write the loss off and move on.
Eric argues that this mindset leaves valuable opportunities on the table.
Post-transaction investigations allow companies to examine patterns across multiple fraudulent accounts, identify organized activity, and build cases that can eventually reach law enforcement.
That is where fraud ring detection often begins.
- Post-transaction investigations reveal connections across fraudulent accounts
- Fraud investigations teams can identify organized fraud rings
- Ecommerce fraud investigations provide evidence for larger cases
- Fraud operations strategy should include investigative capabilities
How investigations teams build fraud cases
Here’s what’s actually happening during these investigations.
When investigators analyze fraud events, they look beyond individual transactions. Instead, they examine behavior patterns across many accounts, devices, payment methods, and identities.
Over time, those connections reveal networks.
That network analysis becomes the foundation for fraud case building.
Right.
Once those connections are documented, investigators can present a much stronger case to law enforcement agencies.
- Fraud case building requires linking multiple fraudulent activities
- Account takeover investigations often reveal larger fraud rings
- Chargeback fraud investigations provide valuable evidence
- Fraud ring detection improves when investigators connect signals
Why companies should work closely with law enforcement
One of the most valuable insights Eric shares is how important relationships with law enforcement can be.
Investigations teams that build connections with federal agencies, local cybercrime units, and prosecutors often see much better outcomes when pursuing cases.
Those relationships help ensure evidence is structured in a way that can support prosecution.
And sometimes, as in the case Eric describes in this episode, those investigations lead to asset seizures that eventually result in financial restitution.
That is not common.
But it is possible.
- Law enforcement fraud cases require well-documented investigations
- Cybercrime investigations benefit from strong industry relationships
- Fraud operations strategy should include legal and investigative collaboration
- Online fraud prosecution becomes possible when evidence is organized
How companies can recover losses from fraud rings
Recovering stolen funds is difficult, but not impossible.
In the case Eric describes, investigators were able to connect fraudulent activity to a broader criminal network. Law enforcement eventually seized assets connected to the fraud ring, which were later sold.
The proceeds were used to recover financial restitution for the victims.
Yeah.
That kind of outcome requires persistence, coordination, and strong investigative work.
But it shows that fraud losses do not always have to end with a chargeback write-off.
- Fraud loss recovery sometimes comes from asset seizure
- Financial restitution fraud cases depend on strong investigations
- Cybercrime investigations require patience and coordination
- Fraud ring restitution is possible when companies pursue accountability
The big takeaway from this episode is pretty straightforward.
Fraud prevention should not stop at the transaction.
Companies that invest in investigations teams, build relationships with law enforcement, and pursue organized fraud cases sometimes uncover opportunities to recover losses and hold criminals accountable.
And honestly, that is something more organizations should be thinking about.
