Nasdaq® Verafin Report Finds the Financial Crime Epidemic Reaching Alarming New Heights as Illicit Financial Activity Surges to $4.4 Trillion in 2025
MWN-AI** Summary
The 2026 Global Financial Crime Report by Nasdaq Verafin reveals a staggering surge in illicit financial activity, estimating a total of $4.4 trillion in global financial crime for 2025. This marks an alarming increase of $1.3 trillion since 2023, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 19.2% over two years. The report highlights that drug trafficking has reached $1.1 trillion, human trafficking stands at $528.5 billion, and terrorist financing has risen to $16.2 billion. Moreover, global losses from fraud scams and bank fraud have escalated to approximately $579.4 billion. Notably, fraud scams are increasing at over double the rate of bank fraud, with losses growing at a rate of 19.3%.
A critical factor driving this epidemic is the adoption of advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), by criminal networks. Ninety percent of financial crime professionals surveyed reported a rise in AI-driven attacks, leading to a more sophisticated approach to scams and fraud. Nasdaq Verafin's Executive Vice President, Stephanie Champion, underscored the need for enhanced collaboration, emphasizing that while AI poses significant threats, it also holds potential as a valuable ally in combating financial crime.
To confront this escalating crisis, Nasdaq Verafin announced a pledge to collaborate with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This initiative aims to mobilize private sector partners by conducting workshops and summits to develop actionable strategies against financial crime. As financial institutions bear the brunt of these threats, collective efforts are essential to improve security measures and ensure the integrity of the global financial system. The report serves as both a wake-up call and a blueprint for collaboration in the fight against financial crime.
MWN-AI** Analysis
The recent Nasdaq Verafin 2026 Global Financial Crime Report reveals a startling escalation in illicit financial activity, now reaching a staggering $4.4 trillion. This figure signifies a compound annual growth rate of 19.2% over the past two years and underscores the urgent threat posed by criminal networks leveraging advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. With fraud losses expected to exceed $579.4 billion globally, the report indicates that financial institutions must prioritize digital transformation and AI integration to enhance their defenses against evolving threats.
For investors and stakeholders in financial services, this report underlines several crucial strategies. First, firms should consider investing in robust financial crime management technologies that can leverage AI to detect and mitigate fraud more effectively. Nasdaq Verafin's commitment to bolster public-private sector collaboration highlights the importance of sharing information and best practices among industry players, which can further strengthen collective resilience against financial crimes.
Moreover, the report signals potential growth opportunities in the technology sector focused on financial crime prevention. Companies developing innovative solutions for anti-fraud measures, AML compliance, and risk management are likely to experience increased demand as institutions double down on security measures.
Investors need to closely monitor policy developments related to financial crime prevention. The commitment by Nasdaq Verafin to collaborate with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime should lead to enhanced regulatory frameworks, potentially impacting market dynamics and creating new compliance demands for financial institutions.
Caution is warranted, however, given the volatility and rapid change in this landscape; the rise in AI-driven scams indicates that criminal tactics are evolving faster than traditional defenses can keep pace. Therefore, active investment strategies, focusing on agility and innovation in financial crime management, will be paramount for future resilience and success.
**MWN-AI Summary and Analysis is based on asking OpenAI to summarize and analyze this news release.
Criminal Networks Leverage Technological Advancements to Drive Fraud Losses of Over Half a Trillion Dollars Worldwide
To Accelerate Efforts to Combat Fraud and Scams, Nasdaq Verafin to Announce Pledge to Catalyze Private Sector Collaboration with UN Office on Drugs and Crime
NEW YORK, March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq Verafin has released its 2026 Global Financial Crime Report, the second edition of a comprehensive research initiative that provides insights into the scope and scale of financial crime worldwide. Combining proprietary data modeling, a survey of more than 500 financial crime professionals, and in-depth interviews with senior executives, this report provides the company’s most rigorous analysis of industry threats, priorities, and opportunities to date.
The 2026 Global Financial Crime Report found that since 2023 illicit financial activity has surged by $1.3 trillion, pushing the scale of the global financial crime epidemic to an estimated $4.4 trillion. With a compound annual growth rate of 19.2% over two years, this growth in the scope, scale, and evolution of financial crime fundamentally threatens the integrity of the financial system, powering insidious and destabilizing crimes such as human trafficking and terrorism. As trillions of dollars in illicit funds flowed through the financial system, there was significant growth across every measured typology, with illicit flows reaching:
- $1.1 trillion in drug trafficking activity, with annualized growth of 17.1%
- $528.5 billion in human trafficking, with annualized growth of 23.5%
- $16.2 billion in terrorist financing, with annualized growth of 18.8%
In addition, fraud scams and bank fraud schemes led to $579.4 billion in losses globally. Notably, losses from fraud scams are growing more than twice the rate of bank fraud, reaching $62 billion and growing at a compound annual growth rate of 19.3% over the last two years. Powering this dramatic rise in scam losses is the widespread use of AI by criminal networks, who leverage advances in technology to exploit vulnerabilities in the financial system. The speed at which this new threat has saturated the market is alarming – 90% of the financial crime professionals surveyed in this report noted an increase in AI-driven attacks at their institution over the past two years.
“We are currently in the midst of a full-blown financial crime crisis, powered by criminal networks that are leveraging AI to super-charge scam playbooks and operating with the scale and coordination of multinational corporations,” said Stephanie Champion, Executive Vice President and Head of Nasdaq Verafin. “While AI has emerged as a key tool for criminals, the industry recognizes the potential of the technology to become its most valuable asset in the fight against financial crime. Cutting-edge technology, combined with improved public-private and private-private collaboration creates a network effect, magnifying the reach of our collective efforts and helping remove criminals from the financial system for good.”
Financial institutions are on the front lines of the fight against financial crime, but they cannot defeat criminal threats alone. The scale and complexity of today’s crisis require collective action across every sector impacted by the financial crime ecosystem. Embedded throughout the 2026 Global Financial Crime Report are spotlights on organizations demonstrating coordinated action in the fight against financial crime. The organizations highlighted in this report offer a blueprint for what successful collaboration looks like between the public and private sector, as well as between financial institutions and across industries.
To further advance collaborative efforts in the fight against financial crime, Nasdaq Verafin is announcing a pledge to support the efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to combat financial crime and fraud by mobilizing collective action within the private sector. Nasdaq Verafin, with the substantive contribution of UNODC, will host a series of convenings of private sector leaders at the center of the fight against financial crime, beginning with a special in-person summit on October 20th at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. The convenings will include workshops and roundtables focused on emerging threats and actionable steps for improving cross-sector collaboration to fight fraud, scams, and money laundering.
The 2026 Global Financial Crime Report was produced by Nasdaq Verafin in collaboration with Celent and Oliver Wyman, leveraging a custom data model developed from public and private sources to calculate scale of global crime.
To read the full report and learn more about Nasdaq Verafin’s pledge to fight financial crime, please visit: https://verafin.com/nasdaq-verafin-global-financial-crime-report.
About Nasdaq Verafin
Nasdaq Verafin provides Financial Crime Management Technology solutions for Fraud Detection and Management, AML/CFT Compliance and Management, High Risk Customer Management, Sanctions Screening and Management, and Information Sharing. More than 2,750 financial institutions, representing $11 trillion in collective assets, use Nasdaq Verafin to prevent fraud and strengthen AML/CFT efforts. Visit www.verafin.com to learn more.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Information set forth in this release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Nasdaq cautions readers that any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “will,” “may”, and other words and terms of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to future activities and results. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond Nasdaq’s control. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in Nasdaq’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q which are available on Nasdaq’s investor relations website at http://ir.nasdaq.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Nasdaq undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Media Contacts:
Nick Eghtessad
+1.929.996.8894
Nick.Eghtessad@Nasdaq.com
Jonny Blostone
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NDAQF
FAQ**
How is Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ leveraging its partnerships to enhance the efficacy of its fraud detection technology in light of the $579.4 billion losses reported in 2026?
What specific strategies does Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ plan to implement to counter the 19.3% annual growth in fraud scams, particularly those driven by AI-driven attacks?
How does Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ intend to facilitate collaboration between public and private sectors to address the rising financial crime epidemic, as highlighted in the 2026 Global Financial Crime Report?
In what ways will Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ support the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiatives to combat the escalating use of technology in fraud and scams throughout the financial sector?
**MWN-AI FAQ is based on asking OpenAI questions about Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ).
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