Sarah’s exceptional contributions in the field of fraud data analytics has detected and prevented significant fraud savings within our organisation.

Background: Sarah Carroll serves as the Fraud Data Intelligence Analyst within the IAG Fraud and Investigations Team. Sarah moved from New Zealand to join the team in January 2023. Sarah’s focus centres on detecting and exposing fraudulent activities using data analysis. Sarah has demonstrated remarkable expertise and dedication in developing innovative fraud detection tools to combat insurance fraud. Her work has been instrumental in identifying criminal syndicates and preventing vehicle-related crime.

Payment Tool: Sarah’s creation of a SQL Query and Tableau dashboard targeting bank accounts linked to multiple insurance claim payees has been a game-changer. This tool has successfully identified twelve syndicates identifying fraud estimated at over $500,000. Fraud detected using this tool is referred to the intelligence Team for assessment and investigation. For example, Sarah’s analysis revealed a pattern of suspicious claim payments into a single bank account related to alleged hire car services. One hundred and sixty-two claims were found to have identical payment amounts for hire car services into a common bank account. The estimated fraudulent hire car payments amount to over $125,000. An Intelligence Assessment was promptly conducted, and the matter is now an ongoing Fraud and Investigation Operation.

Hire Car Overlapping Tool: Sarah’s second achievement involves a Tableau dashboard designed to detect fraud in hire car demands. This type of fraud occurs when offenders set up bogus hire companies to exploit the market for replacement cars. By analysing vehicle registrations and dates of hire car usage, Sarah identified instances of hire car overlapping — where the same car was rented to multiple individuals simultaneously, resulting in separate claims for non-existent hires. Her tool has become an essential resource for claim teams within IAG, enabling them to deny fraudulent hire car payments and prevent fraud from occurring.

Repair of Interest Tool: Sarah also created a tool which analyses fraud trends within motor vehicle repairer data. The tool identifies repairers with a high volume of denied and investigated claims. The tool analyses data to report on Repairers with a high percentage of claims that have occurred close to policy inception. As a result of this Tool analysts within the Fraud and Investigations team can successfully target Repairers of Interest and refer suspicious claim activity for further investigation.

Impact: Sarah’s fraud detection tools have not only saved significant amounts of money for IAG but have also contributed to the overall fight against insurance fraud. Her dedication, data analysis skills, and commitment to excellence make her a deserving candidate for the IAATI AUS Branch - Forensic and Supporting Services Award.

Her work exemplifies the collaborative spirit and unwavering commitment to fraud detection that IAATI aims to recognise.