Fraud detection for online banking for scalable and distributed data

Online fraud causes billions of dollars in losses for banks. Therefore, online banking fraud detection is an important field of study. However, there are many challenges in conducting research in fraud detection. One of the constraints is due to unavailability of bank datasets for research or the required characteristics of the attributes of the data are not available. Numeric data usually provides better performance for machine learning algorithms. Most transaction data however have categorical, or nominal features as well. Moreover, some platforms such as Apache Spark only recognizes numeric data. So, there is a need to use techniques e.g. One-hot encoding (OHE) to transform categorical features to numerical features, however OHE has challenges including the sparseness of transformed data and that the distinct values of an attribute are not always known in advance. Efficient feature engineering can improve the algorithm’s performance but usually requires detailed domain knowledge to identify correct features. Techniques like Ripple Down Rules (RDR) are suitable for fraud detection because of their low maintenance and incremental learning features. However, high classification accuracy on mixed datasets, especially for scalable data is challenging. Evaluation of RDR on distributed platforms is also challenging as it is not available on these platforms. The thesis proposes the following solutions to these challenges: • We developed a technique Highly Correlated Rule Based Uniformly Distribution (HCRUD) to generate highly correlated rule-based uniformly-distributed synthetic data. • We developed a technique One-hot Encoded Extended Compact (OHE-EC) to transform categorical features to numeric features by compacting sparse-data even if all distinct values are unknown. • We developed a technique Feature Engineering and Compact Unified Expressions (FECUE) to improve model efficiency through feature engineering where the domain of the data is not known in advance. • A Unified Expression RDR fraud deduction technique (UE-RDR) for Big data has been proposed and evaluated on the Spark platform. Empirical tests were executed on multi-node Hadoop cluster using well-known classifiers on bank data, synthetic bank datasets and publicly available datasets from UCI repository. These evaluations demonstrated substantial improvements in terms of classification accuracy, ruleset compactness and execution speed.Doctor of Philosoph

Empowering remittance management in the digitised landscape: A real-time Data-Driven Decision Support with predictive abilities for financial transactions

Blockchain technology (BT) revolutionised remittance transactions recording, banks and remittance institutes have shown growing interest in exploring blockchain\u27s potential advantages over traditional practices. This paper presents a data-driven predictive decision support approach as an innovative artefact designed for blockchain-oriented remittance industry. Employing theory-generating Design Science Research (DSR) approach, the transaction Big Data (BD) driven predictive emerged. The artefact integrates Predictive Analytics (PA) and Machine Learning (ML) to enable real-time transactions monitoring, empowering management decision-makers to address challenges in the uncertain digitized landscape of blockchain-oriented remittance companies. Bridging the gap between theory and the practice, this research safeguards the remittance ecosystem while fostering future predictive decision support solution with its PA advancement in other domains. Additionally, the generation of theory from the artifact\u27s implementation enriches the DSR approach and fosters grounded and stakeholder theory development in the Information Systems (IS) domain

Popularity prediction of instagram posts

Predicting the popularity of posts on social networks has taken on significant importance in recent years, and several social media management tools now offer solutions to improve and optimize the quality of published content and to enhance the attractiveness of companies and organizations. Scientific research has recently moved in this direction, with the aim of exploiting advanced techniques such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, etc., to support such tools. In light of the above, in this work we aim to address the challenge of predicting the popularity of a future post on Instagram, by defining the problem as a classification task and by proposing an original approach based on Gradient Boosting and feature engineering, which led us to promising experimental results. The proposed approach exploits big data technologies for scalability and efficiency, and it is general enough to be applied to other social media as well

The Role Artificial Intelligence in Modern Banking: An Exploration of AI-Driven Approaches for Enhanced Fraud Prevention, Risk Management, and Regulatory Compliance

Banking fraud prevention and risk management are paramount in the modern financial landscape, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a promising avenue for advancements in these areas. This research delves into the multifaceted applications of AI in detecting, preventing, and managing fraudulent activities within the banking sector. Traditional fraud detection systems, predominantly rule-based, often fall short in real-time detection capabilities. In contrast, AI can swiftly analyze extensive transactional data, pinpointing anomalies and potentially fraudulent activities as they transpire. One of the standout methodologies includes the use of deep learning, particularly neural networks, which, when trained on historical fraud data, can discern intricate patterns and predict fraudulent transactions with remarkable precision.  Furthermore, the enhancement of Know Your Customer (KYC) processes is achievable through Natural Language Processing (NLP), where AI scrutinizes textual data from various sources, ensuring customer authenticity. Graph analytics offers a unique perspective by visualizing transactional relationships, potentially highlighting suspicious activities such as rapid fund transfers indicative of money laundering. Predictive analytics, transcending traditional credit scoring methods, incorporates a diverse data set, offering a more comprehensive insight into a customer's creditworthiness.  The research also underscores the importance of user-friendly interfaces like AI-powered chatbots for immediate reporting of suspicious activities and the integration of advanced biometric verifications, including facial and voice recognition. Geospatial analysis and behavioral biometrics further bolster security by analyzing transaction locations and user interaction patterns, respectively.  A significant advantage of AI lies in its adaptability. Self-learning systems ensure that as fraudulent tactics evolve, the AI mechanisms remain updated, maintaining their efficacy. This adaptability extends to phishing detection, IoT integration, and cross-channel analysis, providing a comprehensive defense against multifaceted fraudulent attempts. Moreover, AI's capability to simulate economic scenarios aids in proactive risk management, while its ability to ensure regulatory compliance automates and streamlines a traditionally cumbersome process

A holistic auto-configurable ensemble machine learning strategy for financial trading

Financial markets forecasting represents a challenging task for a series of reasons, such as the irregularity, high fluctuation, noise of the involved data, and the peculiar high unpredictability of the financial domain. Moreover, literature does not offer a proper methodology to systematically identify intrinsic and hyper-parameters, input features, and base algorithms of a forecasting strategy in order to automatically adapt itself to the chosen market. To tackle these issues, this paper introduces a fully automated optimized ensemble approach, where an optimized feature selection process has been combined with an automatic ensemble machine learning strategy, created by a set of classifiers with intrinsic and hyper-parameters learned in each marked under consideration. A series of experiments performed on different real-world futures markets demonstrate the effectiveness of such an approach with regard to both to the Buy and Hold baseline strategy and to several canonical state-of-the-art solutions

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

Competence Based Management in Academics through Data Mining Approach

Competence based Management through Data mining approach helps academia to improve research and academic decision making through uncovering hidden trends and patterns that predicts using a combination of explicit knowledge base, sophisticated analytical skills and academic domain knowledge. The paper proposes a framework for effective educational process using Data Mining techniques to uncover the hidden trends and patterns and making accuracy based predictions through higher level of analytical sophistication in students counseling process. Keywords: Faculty; Faculty Assessment; Faculty; Competence Management; Data Mining; Patterns