GeoComply hires ex-Secret Service agent to risk team
Dawson – who served 23 years with the federal law enforcement agency – will become a law enforcement liaison for the company after a career that saw him become a proficient investigator of cybercrime, fraud and money laundering in relation to crypto currency.
“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.”
Secret Service investigator
The business said that its risk services team has experienced rapid growth over the past year to cover an increased portfolio of fraud, risk management, field compliances and law enforcement liaison. The company said that the team is designed to enable its customers to identify and address high-risk behaviour from customers, mitigate the risk, as well as escalating to law enforcement agencies when necessary.
“This feels like such a good fit for me because it allows me to continue the fight against fraud using GeoComply’s cutting-edge technology,” said Dawson. “Geolocation is such an effective tool. If more of the banks and platforms I helped had used GeoComply, it would have made investigations a lot simpler and the life of the criminals a lot harder.”
The former special agent worked as the lead case agent for a multi-agency transnational organised crime investigation named “Operation Crypto Runner”, which concentrated on identifying, seizing illicit digital goods, arresting criminals as well as disrupting digital money laundering on a global scale.
In 1999, Dawson joined the US Secret Service as a member of the agency’s electric crimes taskforce. His career saw him working in liaison with a variety of different organisations including local and federal law enforcement, academia and the private businesses. According to GeoComply, Dawson’s career has seen him become a “recognised subject matter expert” and guest lecturer on the topics of fraud, money laundering, cryptocurrencies and organised crime.
This is only the latest hire for GeoComply, having recently announced that former Meta director of engineering Vadim Jelezniakov would be taking over as the company’s new chief technology officer.