HSBC has recently had a fraud attempt originated by an offshore data-processing unit’s employee in Bangalore who accessed data and passed it along to associates in the UK. Around 20 accounts were compromised with losses pegged at approximately $425,000, for which HSBC is accepting full responsibility and reimbursing defrauded customers for. Needless to say, Indian officials are quick to point out that this kind of thing happens all the time, regardless of where the employees are.

According to a recent survey by the National Threat Assessment Center, the Secret Service’s research arm, some 85% of the threats against financial services firms come from insiders, not outsiders. Not surprisingly, financial gain motivates a vast majority of these attacks.  Surprisingly, 61% of these attacks are found by non-automated means. This underscores the need to ensure your employees are trained to recognize when things aren’t right and follow their instincts when it comes to potential fraud.