21 Fraud Prevention Industry Influencers for 2022

Knowledge sharing and cooperation are key to the success of modern-day fraud fighters, just like it is to the online-based criminals they face. While fraud fighters can probably learn something from talking to any of their colleagues across the globe, there are “influencers” in the space who excel in exchanging information and/or generating useful, detail-driven conversations on topics of interest. To assist others in the fraud fighting community out there, Justt has compiled a list of 21 fraud prevention influencers who might be worth your while to check out along with links to the relevant channels and fora where they are present.

The list is not ranked or ordered according to any specific logic. We tried to gather a diverse group of people in terms of the types of fraud covered and geographic location of the people listed. However, this list is by no means exhaustive and may exclude some names you think should be on it. If you have anyone to suggest adding to the list, feel free to contact us and let us know.

And should you and your company be dealing with a chargeback problem, sign up for a demo and learn what we can do to help you.

With those disclaimers out of the way, let’s get to the list!

21 Fraud Prevention Industry Influencers

• Brian Krebs is more of a cybersecurity reporter than fraud industry insider, but Krebs is perhaps the most well-known individual on this list. Fraud fighters eagerly share reports from his website KrebsonSecurity regarding data breaches and other nefarious criminal activities that are bound to translate into fraud attacks sooner or later. You can also follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Frank McKenna has been in fraud prevention for decades. A co-founder and Chief Fraud Strategist at Point Predictive, a company dedicated to fighting auto loan fraud with the assistance of artificial intelligence, McKenna provides regular insights on LinkedIn and his popular industry blog FrankOnFraud.
• Karisse Hendrick has made a name for herself as a chargeback consultant and fraud podcaster. Starting out as a chargeback analyst, she spent some years working with the industry association Merchant Risk Council and the trade publication/conference organizer CardNotPresent. She currently runs her own practice, Chargelytics Consulting and a twice weekly podcast Fraudology. She is also active on LinkedIn. 

• Brett Johnson may be the best example in the fraud space of an ex-con gone good, Brett Johnson used to lead ShadowCrew, a precursor today’s darknet markets before he was caught by U.S. authorities. He was involved as a criminal in identity theft, account takeovers, card-not-present fraud and IRS tax fraud. Since going legit, Johnson has been a featured speaker at many conferences across the globe. He also featured on the Online Fraudcast with another influencer, Karisse Hendrick, before leaving to launch his own podcast, The Brett Johnson Show, which also airs on YouTube. Johnson is also featured on Netflix’s recent series Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies, and the Internet.
• Peter Taylor is a UK-based fraud expert who goes by the moniker “The Fraud Guy.” He began his career in the Greater Manchester Police and went on to develop a career in handling insurance claim fraud.  He has provided advice and made appearances on network TV for fraud related features, and documentaries, including BBC Fraud Squad episodes. He provides fraud awareness, interviewing and investigation training for banks, retailers, insurers and tech companies. Taylor also posts regularly on LinkedIn.
• Gilit Saporta is a consistent presence in the Israeli anti-fraud scene from her early days at Fraud Sciences to work at Forter, Simplex and now DoubleVerify. She has played an active role organizing the Fraud Fighters IL Meetups (a group that has become less active since the outbreak of Covid 19) and is on the organizing committee of FraudCon – the annual fraud fighter conference that it is part of Tel Aviv University’s larger Cyber Week event. Saporta also co-wrote the book Practical Fraud Prevention published earlier this year.

• Karen Webster is not strictly a fraud personality, but as CEO of the well-known industry news site PYMNTS.com she has a lot to say on all things payments and fintech related. Webster is also ranked among the top 10 money and finance writers on LinkedIn.
• DJ Murphy is another trade journalist. As editor-in-chief of CardNotPresent.com, he covers the space of card-not-present payments, including topics like payments fraud and chargebacks. CardNotPresent.com and the CNP Report reach more than 20,000 subscribers twice a week with news and information on e- and m-commerce payments security and fraud.
• David Montague is a long-time fraud expert who worked at companies like Amazon, Expedia and Cybersource. He founded The Fraud Practice consultancy, which provides eCommerce payments and fraud prevention consulting to major corporations, as well as offering paid training courses for fraud fighters and payment professionals.
• Mike Haley is the CEO of CIFAS a U.K. based non-profit and fraud prevention membership organization. Members of CIFAS, including major corporations and government bodies, share fraud data to reduce instances of fraud. CIFAS also provides individuals with the information they need to understand when they have become the victim of fraud and financial crime and advice on what they can do to protect themselves.  Haley has also served as the Chair of the Home Office Joint Fraud Taskforce (JFT) whose main purpose is to reduce the level of fraud and harm it causes to individual victims and organizations by making it significantly more difficult for fraudsters to operate within the UK. He has appeared as a speaker at many conferences, primarily in the UK.

• Kelly Paxton is the host of the podcast Great Women in Fraud that highlights the stories of women (and men) in fraud prevention. A licensed private investigator and certified fraud examiner (CFE), she has helped popularize the term pink collar crime, which refers to the predominantly female perpetrated crime of embezzlement. She is also active on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Leah Wietholter is a forensic account, licensed private investigator, certified fraud examiner and  podcast host of The Investigation Game. She also wrote the book Data Sleuth to aid forensic accountants in financial investigations. Wietholter also serves as a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Advisory Board.
• Tracy Coenen is another forensic account and fraud investigator. She has written three books: Lifestyle Analysis in Divorce Cases: Investigating Spending and Finding Hidden Income and Assets, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide, and Essentials of Corporate Fraud. Coenen has a appeared at a variety of U.S. conferences over the years and has a large following on LinkedIn.
• Will Megson is the former CEO of the anti-fraud startup Bouncer that was acquired by Stripe in May 2021, where now works on fraud products. He also, along with Matt Vega, co-hosted the short-lived Fraud Technology podcast.

• Thomas O'Malley is a former U.S. federal prosecutor who specialized in the prosecution of cybercrime, intellectual property and identity theft/fraud offenses. He is the founder of Frozen Pii, LLC, which publishes FrozenPii.com, a PSA website for free new-account & government ID protection. O’Malley’s stated mission is to help make it easy for people to take control of their identity for free, before or after criminals attempt to use their stolen identities to commit identity fraud.
• Jenny Radcliffe is a UK-based social engineer who goes by the name the People Hacker and is the host of The Human Factor Podcast. Radcliffe was recognized as one of the top 25 Women in Cyber in 2020 by IT Security Guru and is a frequent conference speaker. She has a large following on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Becky Holmes focuses her efforts on exposing romance frauds. She has an active presence on Twitter where she goes by the amusing handle @deathtospinach that has over 30,000 followers. Holmes is currently writing a book entitled Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You.  

• Mary Ann Miller is the Fraud & Cybercrime Executive Advisor and VP of Client Experience at the identity solution provider Prove. Before Prove, Miller was Head of Fraud Strategy at Varo Bank and previously a senior direct at NICE Actimize. She also served on the US Federal Reserve Secure Payments Task Force. Miller has been quoted b the BBC, NPR, American Banker and other high-profile outlets. She recently worked as an executive trainer at Wharton, as part of an advanced risk management program for leaders, including many who are being groomed for senior roles in their organizations.
• Tony Sales is a British ex-con turned fraud fighter. Sales is a social engineer that calls himself Britain’s Greatest Fraudster. He works with We Fight Fraud and serves as a consultant to organizations looking to educate staff on how to prevent fraud. He has appeared as a speaker at events and on British TV shows and wrote the book The Big Con: How I Stole £30 Million And Got Away With It.
• Prof. Mark Button is the Director of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth. He is one of the few academics worldwide whose research is focused on the area of fraud prevention. He has a total of 176 publications to date.
• Ronald Praetsch is the Germany-based co-founder of the online fraud fighting community About-Fraud.com. He perhaps is best known for hosting About-Fraud.com’s webinars although he has spoken at conferences and recently co-founded a startup called Congrify.