Quiz: Can you spot the fraudster? 

Let’s play a game…the rules are very simple. 

Below are two applicants applying for a personal loan. We ran each through our Digital Polygraph.

One is a genuine applicant, one is a fraudster.

Can you guess which is which?

Applicant A

Applicant B

If you guessed B, you are brilliant…ly wrong! 

 

“But, how?!” You’re probably asking yourself. 

Well, turns out, green isn’t always good.

To the untrained eye, B is the obvious choice. 

Why wouldn’t the applicant who stays within the normal deviation range, has a consistent cadence throughout the application, and makes zero corrections be the genuine customer?

As it turns out, among other things, this user has a very high “Application Fluency,” which means they are familiar with the application and know how to navigate it properly, likely because they have seen it before.

For this reason, we ran a search to see if this IP address had submitted any other applications, and low and behold, it had…

Digital Polygraph Results

First Attempt:

Second Attempt:

Third Attempt:

 

If you look at these “sibling” applications (applications that come through the same device or IP address) you’ll notice that while they are not exactly the same, they are pretty darn close.

What you’ll also notice is how the applications get “better” in each subsequent attempt. 

This is very common with folks who are attempting to submit multiple applications in hopes one of them gets approved. 

Conclusion:

The application itself is a small piece of a much larger puzzle. When you’re face-to-face with someone you intuitively pick up on their body language and behavioral cues.

The actual words they use are a small piece (~7%) of what they are trying to communicate. The other ~93% is conveyed through their body language and tone.

The only difference online is companies aren’t aware that they are blind. The equivalent would be a sales rep putting on a blindfold as soon as a customer walked into the office…and that is no exaggeration.

By “grading” customers solely on their submitted answers, you’re missing out on 93% of what your potential customer is actually conveying.

Luckily, tools like our “Digital Polygraph” exist to give you X-ray vision when it comes to your customers/agents.