On their own, the transactions didn’t look like much. A 34-year-old man was making regular payments to budget airlines, mobile phone providers, and Vivastreet and Gumtree, websites that can be used to advertise genuine adult services but also to sell cars, computers, and more.
When Santander U.K.’s artificial intelligence technology flagged unusual activity on a customer’s account last year, the bank’s staff had no idea it would lead to a human trafficking network being uncovered.
When Santander U.K.’s artificial intelligence technology flagged unusual activity on a customer’s account last year, the bank’s staff had no idea it would lead to a human trafficking network being uncovered.
On their own, the transactions didn’t look like much. A 34-year-old man was making regular payments to budget airlines, mobile phone providers, and Vivastreet and Gumtree, websites that can be used to advertise genuine adult services but also to sell cars, computers, and more.
But the bank monitors and analyzes millions of transactions using technology run by ThetaRay, an AI-powered financial crime detection company, to spot patterns—and when something falls outside those patterns.
Without AI, this act
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