Introduction of OSINT Framework
OSINT Framework As regulatory scrutiny over financial transparency and illicit money flows increases, what techniques can compliance officers leverage to help uncover covert accounts and activities?
The Open-Source Intelligence framework contains several search and discovery tools to answer precisely this question. Applied strategically, several OSINT searches have proven highly effective at bringing hidden financial dealings into the light.
Individual empowerment through access to knowledge will be a huge factor in defining the next epoch,” said former CIA officer Edward Snowden.
According to recent estimates by Thomson Reuters, analysts recover over $2 billion in hidden assets every year from what they have been able to bring into the globally coordinated anti-money laundering efforts using OSINT approaches.
This article is going to discuss the types of OSINT searches that have demonstrated particular acumen for discovering covert financial holdings.
Use Phone numbers to Find Financial Accounts
Phone numbers are perfect leads for conducting searches within the OSINT framework. Financial institutions typically record any customer’s phone contact information.
By harvesting the phone numbers available on the surface web, such as from social media profiles, they can trace them back through the associated banking details by matching records across relative datasets.
The OSINT framework includes searching public and dark websites for phone numbers that might be related to unknown financial accounts.
In 2023, 79% of the financial institutions were using OSINT purposes for Fraud Detection and Prevention.
Email addresses as a lead to uncovering secret bank accounts
Email addresses also work as a digital fingerprint that can help unwind secret bank accounts if matched with open-source findings.
Financial service providers are likely to use electronic mail for communication. In 2022, over 4.1 billion people around the globe used emails, and the financial services sector contributed a considerable share of email traffic.
Using searches in the OSINT framework, researchers can publicly find email addresses and then cross-reference them with entries from compromised databases or other OSINT framework utilities to associate them with other secret services and bank accounts.
This matching of publicly available emails against an institution’s private records has, over time, helped uncover tons of hidden holdings.
A 2023 report indicated that email matching brought 72% of hidden bank accounts to book.
Bonus: We will share actionable ways to maximize OSINT value for your organization’s transparency goals.
Physical address to obscure investment holdings
Physical addresses also leave breadcrumbs when indexed and analyzed through the OSINT framework methodology. Property ownership and investment holdings quite often demand an address.
You can compare aggregated address info outside of official financial circles to proprietary location databases as an OSINT framework alternative approach to exposing valuable linkages between address locations and obscure investment assets not openly declared.
Researchers have discovered that about 85% of high-value investment properties register with detailed physical addresses.
Find assets through networking and association searches
Financially connected networks make online relationships crucial for compliance officers to detect undeclared accounts via indirect links.
The OSINT industry uses techniques and tools to map networks and link them to financial footprints.
Reports indicate that close personal and professional networks link as high as 82% of hidden assets in 2023.
Employ search algorithms to link digital footprints to money trails
Algorithms are crucial in OSINT for analyzing vast open-source data and revealing hidden patterns.
Algorithms can connect online clues like shared email domains or IP addresses to trace money trails.
This exposes links that may not be visible and that compliance officers can exploit.
Valuers projected the big data analytics market to grow from USD 239.8 billion in 2022 to USD 450 billion by 2028, with a 12.6% absolute growth rate.
Advanced search techniques for digging into dark web financial activities
Dark web environments give an opportunity, but they also bring forth challenges, especially in the searches of OSINT frameworks.
Clicking around dark sites searching for some anonymity mask for financial dealings has brought forth specialized exploration techniques.
Advanced and extra-patient experts slowly find ways to peel away these shadowy activities. Targeted OSINT Framework techniques can illuminate covert corners, helping financial institutions meet transparency mandates.
Familiarize yourself with OSINT framework search strategies for financial compliance. Learn about tools and training to delve into hidden accounts and money flows.
