Information Builders Helps the Public Sector Fight Fraud

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 8, 2013) -   Information Builders , a leader in business intelligence ( BI ) and analytics, information integrity , and integration solutions, today announced that it is working with numerous public sector customers to reduce the instances and impact of fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) through real-time data access. As all levels of government continue to suffer the financial repercussions of FWA, the company's Fraud Detection and Prevention Framework provides the tools necessary for organizations to better predict, detect, and prevent fraudulent activities.

Across industries, organizations are required to do more with less, and this is particularly true in the public sector. In addition to the FWA prevention challenges posed by budget constraints, many agencies are struggling with disparate environments, lack of information-sharing, and outdated technologies reliant upon manual searches. While organizations are struggling to address these areas, criminals are growing ever more sophisticated, launching new forms of attacks and increasingly complex schemes.

Information Builders is uniquely suited to help public sector organizations tackle these myriad challenges through its flexible, real-time tools for analytics, integration, and data integrity. With this framework, customers can integrate data from a variety of sources, including cloud-based information and social media ; quickly spot trends and patterns using geographic analysis; isolate factors that indicate the probability of fraudulent activity; and use predictive models to score values against new claims, clients, and payment requests. Information Builders' solution is also highly customizable, providing the flexibility necessary for agencies to adapt to ever-evolving regulatory requirements, investigative tactics, and emerging schemes.

The Louisiana Department of Social Services is one of the many organizations using Information Builders' Fraud Detection and Prevention Framework. Nearly one million people throughout Louisiana receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, representing approximately $1 billion in federal funding each year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, at least 4 percent of these funds are fraudulently acquired or sold. The state partnered with Information Builders to reduce this fraudulent activity, drawing on the framework's mapping capabilities to identify patterns by geographic region. Because a common occurrence of SNAP fraud involves disreputable retailers providing customers with money rather than food, the ability to drill into suspected occurrences by region is particularly beneficial. In addition to the money saved by reducing fraudulent transactions, the state has also freed up resources previously spent on manual research and reporting processes.

"It's critical that public sector organizations overcome the challenges of siloed information systems, lack of information-sharing, and manual, time-intensive reporting to reduce the financial burden of fraudulent activities," said Gerald Cohen, president and CEO of Information Builders. "Information Builders' Fraud Detection and Prevention Framework provides the tools they need to do this efficiently and effectively. Not only does our solution enable organizations to more easily detect suspicious activities, but also frees up valuable resources to focus on the subsequent investigations and legal actions. We take pride in our role helping the Louisiana Department of Social Services, and our other public sector customers, use data to shift their focus from fraud recovery to fraud prevention."

About Information Builders Information Builders helps organizations transform data into business value. Our software solutions for business intelligence and analytics, integration, and data integrity empower people to make smarter decisions, strengthen customer relationships, and drive growth. Our dedication to customer success is unmatched in the industry. That's why tens of thousands of leading organizations rely on Information Builders to be their trusted partner. Founded in 1975, Information Builders is headquartered in New York, NY, with offices around the world, and remains one of the largest independent, privately held companies in the industry. Visit us at informationbuilders.com , follow us on Twitter at @infobldrs , like us on Facebook , and visit our LinkedIn page.