Building a Fraud Taxonomy: Incident Playbooks to Reduce MTTR

Transform your fraud response strategy with a structured approach to incident management.

A robust fraud taxonomy can transform chaos into clarity.
Back to all posts

## The $50K Hallucination Your AI model just hallucinated in production, costing $50K in customer refunds. This isn't just a financial hit; it’s a reputational risk that could take months to recover from. In today’s landscape, where fraud tactics evolve rapidly, the ability to respond effectively is paramount. A single

line of legacy code could bring down your entire payment system during peak times, leading to lost revenue and customer trust. Understanding the stakes means recognizing that operational resiliency is not just desirable; it’s essential.

## Why This Matters The cost of fraud is staggering, not just in terms of direct financial loss, but also in the long-term damage to customer relationships and brand reputation. For engineering leaders, this means that the responsibility for fraud prevention and response falls squarely on your shoulders. A well-defined

fraud taxonomy can help you identify patterns quickly, ensuring that your team isn’t scrambling to react but is instead prepared to act decisively. Without this, you risk wasting valuable time and resources, impacting your bottom line and customer satisfaction.

## How to Implement It Step 1: Define your fraud categories based on historical data. This could include identity theft, account takeover, and transaction fraud. Understanding the types of fraud your organization faces will set the foundation for effective incident management. Step 2: Develop incident playbooks for

each fraud type. These should outline the steps to take when a fraud signal is detected, including how to escalate issues and who to involve. Incorporate decision trees that guide your team through specific scenarios, allowing for quicker resolution. Step 3: Train teams on evidence handling and review protocols. Clear

guidelines will ensure that your team knows how to gather and assess evidence effectively, enhancing the quality of reviews and reducing MTTR. Step 4: Regularly update playbooks based on new fraud patterns. Continuous learning is crucial; leverage data analytics to identify emerging threats and adjust your strategies.

Related Resources

Key takeaways

  • Implement a structured fraud taxonomy to streamline incident response.
  • Utilize concrete signals to inform decision trees for fraud incidents.
  • Create clear response runbooks that enhance reviewer ergonomics.

Implementation checklist

  • Define fraud categories based on historical data.
  • Develop incident playbooks for each fraud type.
  • Train teams on evidence handling and review protocols.
  • Regularly update playbooks based on new fraud patterns.

Questions we hear from teams

What is a fraud taxonomy?
A fraud taxonomy is a structured classification of different types of fraud that an organization may encounter, helping streamline incident response.
How can incident playbooks help reduce MTTR?
Incident playbooks provide clear, step-by-step guidelines for responding to fraud signals, enabling quicker and more effective resolutions.

Ready to modernize your onboarding process?

Let IntegrityLens help you transform AI-generated chaos into clean, scalable applications.

Schedule a consultation

Related resources