The best defense against fraud is the person who already knows your name.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Integrity Bank Chief Risk Officer Christy Bussey, just steps from her office, to unpack what it really means to manage risk inside a community bank, covering the evolution of fraud from card skimming to AI voice cloning, why seniors and lonely individuals are the most targeted, how social media oversharing fuels scams, and what small business owners and everyday consumers can do right now to protect themselves, their families, and their finances.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Key Takeaways

1. The Chief Risk Officer role has evolved well beyond compliance checklists and dual controls. Today it means sitting at the table when strategic decisions are made, actively managing regulator relationships, and serving as the bank's early warning system for anything that looks outside the norm.

2. The fastest growing fraud threat in 2026 is AI voice cloning and deepfake scams, where criminals clone a voice from just a few seconds of audio and use it to manipulate family members. The best defenses are a family safe word, calling back independently, and slowing down whenever a request feels urgent or emotional.

3. Seniors are disproportionately targeted not because they are less intelligent but because they trust people, answer their phones, and often have savings. The same loneliness that makes someone answer a stranger's call also makes them vulnerable to long-running romance and social media scams that can drain savings over months before the victim realizes what happened.

4. Social media oversharing is one of the primary ways scammers gather the personal information they need, including birthdays, pet names, school names, vacation schedules, and voice samples, to make their approaches feel legitimate and personal.

5. For small business owners, internal fraud prevention starts with dual controls so that no single person can initiate and approve a financial transaction alone, paired with a regular review of bank statements or online banking as a simple but effective form of audit.

Timestamped Overview

00:31 Hazem introduces Christy Bussey, Chief Risk Officer at Integrity Bank
01:05 What a Chief Risk Officer actually does inside a bank
01:36 How Christy manages relationships 
02:42 What regulators are and are not there to do for banks
03:53 What keeps regulators up at night: cyber risk, fraud, and liquidity
04:28 How fraud has shifted from card theft to emotional manipulation
05:30 AI voice cloning and deepfake scams: how they work and how to stop them
06:49 Why vulnerable and elderly individuals are the most targeted
07:24 Common elder fraud scams: Medicare, fake tech support, fake investments
08:32 How loneliness and isolation increase susceptibility to romance and social media scams
09:58 Why community banks catch fraud that big banks miss
10:59 The familiarity advantage: knowing customers before they walk in the door
11:48 An Uber driver's story and the difference between big banks and community banks
12:27 Protective transfer scams and smishing: fake links from fake institutions
14:51 Why your email inbox should work like your front door
15:40 Social media oversharing: what you are unknowingly giving scammers
17:43 Why trusting people is both a virtue and a vulnerability
18:39 The importance of talking about fraud inside families and communities
19:39 Real-time banking access as a fraud prevention tool and why checking daily matters
21:16 Mack on checking his accounts two to three times a day and being available 24/7
22:45 When banks call customers outside business hours and why it matters
23:13 Personal versus business devices and why mixing them creates risk
25:17 Why financial tasks should live on a dedicated, protected device
25:59 Internal fraud: dual controls and the importance of separating access
27:34 Closing thoughts on speed, risk, and protecting everyone who listens
28:19 What regulators and technologists are watching over the next 24 to 36 months
29:33 Christy's closing message: awareness is still the best prevention tool available