According to TrustMark, the only Government endorsed scheme for trades in and around the home, rogue tradespeople delivering low quality work are estimated to have cost UK homeowners almost £2 billion in 2014. More than a quarter of respondents said they didn’t know where to look for information about traders, with a further 26% solely using a friend or family member’s recommendations when choosing a trader.
Rated People is the UK's leading online marketplace for connecting homeowners with tradespeople nationwide
The key to their success is how they are vetting their database of tradespeople. But now, they’re doing even more – working with Synectics Solutions to further protect homeowners against rogue traders.
In a world where more and more people are going online to find trusted tradespeople and other home services, Rated People knows that the protection of site users – whether they’re homeowners or tradespeople – is vital for building brand trust and customer experience.
Their main priority is to eliminate any misuse of their service, while rooting out rogue traders, and they’re the first in the market to use Synectics’ software to do exactly that. These sophisticated tools will strengthen the trader vetting process and improve protection for those who use the site.
Rated People adopts a layered approach to fraud detection and prevention by using Synectics’ SIRA and Orion solutions, to help eliminate unsuitable tradespeople from Rated People’s approved trader database. They’ll also be able to build a map of potential links between rogue traders – thus dealing with them faster and more effectively.
These enhanced checks are all done in real-time, and work seamlessly with the current vetting processes. This allows Rated People to make instant decisions, meaning no delays for the investigation team, who are able to eliminate rogue traders before they become a problem.
Orion from Synectics Solutions offers one of the most sophisticated network visualisation tools, built specifically to detect fraud connections, which enables companies to identify and prevent organised fraud from impacting their business.
The rapid growth of digital marketplaces such as Rated People and the sharing and ‘gig’ economies leaves these types of organisation exposed to potential fraudulent activity. Although these business models are relatively new and growing - the criminals are always one step ahead, and have already started to explore and exploit this type of business.
For Rated People, Orion helps identify where tradespeople have multiple profiles, virtual addresses, or have links to other disreputable traders. The network then maps those found to be scamming screening checks, or those traders linked to others who are already listed as having a bad reputation. These tradespeople are automatically referred to the team at Rated People for investigation.
In order to be successful at preventing and detecting fraud, companies need to adopt a multi-layered approach, that helps them identify and address the complex nature of criminal organisations, or individual opportunists, who are looking to perpetrate fraud - without compromising competitiveness and reputation - and at the same time performing thorough vetting checks on applicants.
By integrating data matching services like SIRA with network analysis, like Orion it’s possible to achieve a fraud prevention and detection matrix that delivers a defence capable of dealing with the most challenging and emerging aspects of financial crime to prevent fraud and predict risk much earlier. This 360 degree approach to fraud prevention gives a more holistic view of criminal activity.
Gareth Grobler Fraud and Risk Manager at Rated People said:
“The proof of concept trial was a huge success and we were delighted with the robustness, intelligence and sophistication of both solutions. We also really value the benefit of receiving, and acting upon, the shared intelligence that being part of the SIRA database provides.”
“We were approached by Rated People with the requirement to enhance their trader vetting process and trialled SIRA and Orion during a proof of concept study.”
“Since establishing the SIRA database 12 years ago, more than £3 billion of potential fraud has been saved through banks and insurers sharing information.”
“Rated People has harnessed this and we’ve successfully deployed solutions that have made the company’s vetting process more robust.”
For more information about how Synectics Solutions can help your organisation enhance its vetting processes to prevent fraud call 01782 664000 or email info@synectics-solutions.com