How Advanced Technology Empowers Banks and Consumers Against Fraud: Q&A with Leena Kallakuri
Written by Elisa Silverman for CEO Today
July 2025
Despite new technologies and rising awareness, financial fraud remains a moving target for financial institutions and customers. Artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced tools are changing the game, but only if consumers and institutions adopt practical, informed strategies. Leena Kallakuri, vice president of software engineering at Capital One, has spent her 19-year career in banking, leading teams across fraud, dispute, and other banking technology domains. Her teams build and deploy real-time, AI-enabled anti-fraud solutions. Kallakuri’s perspective reflects firsthand leadership in building and scaling anti-fraud systems used by millions.
Q: What are the most common types of financial fraud today, and how do they affect consumers?
Kallakuri: Several common fraud types directly impact consumers. There’s application fraud, which involves identity theft. Someone uses stolen personal information to open credit in the victim’s name, which damages the victim’s credit and financial standing. Transaction fraud occurs when credit card details are stolen and misused for unauthorized spending. “Smishing” is a recent incarnation, where fraudsters send urgent texts about past-due bills with links they use to steal credit card information or install malware on the consumer’s phone and take over a consumer’s account. Now, scammers can change the contact information and redirect authentication codes to themselves.
Q: How are financial institutions using technology to detect and prevent fraud?
Kallakuri: Detection starts with data. Banks analyze spending patterns, demographics, and known fraud behaviors, often pooling insights across institutions. Machine learning (ML) flags anomalies, such as a consumer suddenly spending in unexpected zip codes or making large purchases. AI-driven systems work in real time to identify suspicious activity, prompting quick investigations before damage is done.
Fraud prevention is a blend of automation, intelligence, and real-time customer engagement. When a transaction appears unusual, banks may trigger a push notification asking the customer to confirm the transaction. A simple “no” can freeze the account immediately, stopping further fraud while the case is investigated. Institutions are adopting more secure multifactor authentication methods, such as one-time codes, to protect access. But implementation often depends on the company’s tech infrastructure. Institutions with modern, cloud-based systems can adapt faster than those still on legacy platforms.
Q: How are cybercriminals evolving, and what challenges does this create?
Kallakuri: Fraudsters are well-funded and leverage the same sophisticated technologies to perpetrate fraud that financial institutions use to prevent it. Cybercriminals gather massive amounts of personal and financial data through multiple channels, including the dark web, data breaches, and social engineering techniques. They use AI, ML, and real-time analytics to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in financial systems. Cybercriminals use low-cost AI tools to create convincing deepfakes for impersonation and phishing scams, while financial institutions are exploring using these technologies for customer identity verification. It’s a delicate balance for banks to strike—ensuring digital convenience for customers while keeping barriers high for cybercriminals.
Q: How can consumers protect themselves, and what support should banks provide?
Kallakuri: Banks are responsible for educating consumers about fraud prevention through multiple channels, recognizing that consumer sophistication varies. It’s critical for financial institutions to run regular campaigns through various channels to inform their customers of available fraud protection tools. These communications can encourage and simplify adoption for consumers.
Staying alert and on the defense is essential for consumers to protect their financial and personal information. A smart first step is to use the institution’s tools, such as enabling multifactor authentication and account alerts. It’s also crucial to know their banks’ security protocols, such as that the bank will never call them unexpectedly. It’s imperative to be careful and intentional about how consumers share their information and understand how institutions use and share it. Consumers can also boost their defenses with identity theft protection, dark web monitoring, and tools that help remove personal data from online databases.
A united front against financial fraud
With institutions and cybercriminals exploiting new and emerging technologies, there are no universal fraud prevention and detection solutions. AI’s wide availability and sophistication make it easier for even inexperienced cybercriminals to launch convincing scams and attacks. Consequently, institutions and consumers must share responsibility. It is imperative for institutions to lead with innovation, education, and rapid response. Meanwhile, consumers need to stay aware of emerging scams, use available security tools, and adopt a “politely paranoid” mindset. When stakeholders engage in continuous learning and proactive defense, fraud prevention becomes a powerful collaborative method to reduce risk in a fluid threat landscape.
Elisa Silverman
About the Author:
Elisa Silverman is a freelance writer and ghostwriter, primarily in the fields of technology, architecture, engineering, construction, and marketing, with a professional background in law and technology. For more information, contact elisa@elisasilverman.com.
About Leena Kallakuri
Leena Kallakuri is a vice president of software engineering. During her 19-year career, she has led enterprise-scale quality transformations while launching several mission-critical platforms that demanded rapid development and exceptional reliability. Kallakuri leads software engineering organizations that use application programming interfaces (APIs), microservices, and cloud technologies to build next-generation banking solutions aligned with digital and mobile-first growth strategies. Connect with Leena on LinkedIn.
Leena Kallakuri
