GeoComply has recruited a leading cybercrime expert and former US Secret Service special agent to its risk services team.
Michael Dawson has joined the geolocation specialist as law enforcement liaison following more than 23 years with the Secret Service.
Over more than two decades, he became one of the leading investigators of cybercrime, fraud, and money laundering related to cryptocurrencies.
Dawson joined the US Secret Service in 1999 as a member of the Electric Crimes Taskforce when the internet was still in its infancy.
He then served as the lead case agent for a multi-agency organised crime investigation called “Operation Crypto Runner”, which focused on identifying and disrupting cybercrime money laundering globally.
Dawson has since become a subject-matter expert in academia and is a frequent guest lecturer on fraud, money laundering, cryptocurrencies, and organised crime.
Dawson said the move would allow him to continue the fight against fraud while using GeoComply’s “cutting-edge” technology.
“Geolocation is such an effective tool,” he added. “If more of the banks and platforms I helped had used [it], it would have made investigations a lot simpler and the life of the criminals a lot harder.”
The move comes after GeoComply pledged to diversify into crypto compliance this year after netting financial support from US private equity firms in January.
“While automating fraud alerts is a big part of what we do to protect our customers, we have found that machines still don’t learn as fast as fraud evolves,” said GeoComply director of risk services Danny DiRienzo.
“Our fraud-fighting capabilities are therefore rooted in a blend of human analysis meshed with the very best that data science can provide,” he added.
The provider’s risk services team is designed to help customers – many of which are US sports betting operators – identify and address the high-risk behaviour of their customers.