The convenience and positive customer response, however, came at the expense of a greater susceptibility to fraud. To help dealerships confront and combat ID theft and other instances of fraud, Automotive News Canada spoke with Gino Caputo, Senior Vice President & Head, TD Auto Finance , who offered advice on the various innovations and best practices—perhaps none better than: If something seems wrong, it probably is.
Q: What are the most common fraud schemes you’re seeing, and what are the most effective ways to prevent or discourage fraud? Q: What is the role that TD Auto Finance’s anti-fraud group can play to help dealers and other partners in the auto industry? At what point does the anti-fraud group engage with police or other officials?
Q: If you could tell dealer principals and management one thing they should be doing to prevent fraud, what would that be?First, implement a fraud prevention strategy with payment policies and procedures, as well as controls in place for cash deals. Revisit these practices often with your teams to raise awareness and ensure their compliance. A one-and-done conversation isn’t enough.
Caputo: When it comes to identifying and resolving fraudulent activity, TD Auto Finance focuses on proactive contact to offer best practices and solutions that help prevent and detect fraud. These include dealership training; a cheque fraud prevention service, which detects counterfeit and already-altered items daily and returns these items to prevent loss to the dealership; and offering secure alternative payment options with dual authentication.