Chair on Fraud Detection

AdvanThink and the University of Antwerp join forces for a new chair on fraud detection

Cyber fraud is in the news every day. Fraudsters are becoming more inventive, while traditional controls are lagging behind. Bridging that gap is the goal of a new chair at the University of Antwerp. “Fraud will never disappear entirely, but with artificial intelligence we can detect it more intelligently and more quickly.”

Phishing emails, cryptocurrency fraud, accounting scandals: fraud comes in many forms. All police zones are reporting a clear increase in the number of complaints. These illicit practices cost individuals, companies and governments enormous sums of money. In addition to the financial damage, there is also a serious impact on the reputation of organisations, as well as a broader sense of mistrust in society.

Faster and smarter detection

“Fraud is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but a structural problem that undermines trust in financial systems and institutions,” says Prof. Jakob Raymaekers, affiliated with the Department of Mathematics at the University of Antwerp.

Raymaekers and his colleague Prof. Tim Verdonck are leading a new academic chair, supported by software company AdvanThink. The chair, titled 'FraudShift: Trusted, Adaptive & Robust AI for Fraud Detection', aims to detect fraud more quickly, more intelligently and, above all, more reliably, with the help of artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis. The focus will be on fraud analytics, a field of research in which statistics and machine learning are used to identify suspicious patterns. 

Research and practice come together

“Our aim is to bring academic research and practice closer together,” Verdonck explains. “This should lead to fraud detection systems that are not only more accurate, but also more reliable, robust and cost-efficient. Fraudsters often adapt quickly when countermeasures are introduced. That is why we want to develop methods that can cope with changing fraud patterns, uncertain data and the unequal costs of incorrect decisions. Fraud will probably never disappear completely, but by remaining innovative, we try to stay one step ahead of criminal actors.”

Software company AdvanThink is funding the chair. CEO Brice Perdrix sees clear added value. “This chair reflects our ambition to stay ten years ahead in the fight against fraud, by combining a forward-looking vision with academic excellence and technological innovation.” 

On Tuesday 12 May, the new chair was formally launched during an academic ceremony at the Stadscampus of the University of Antwerp.