And the finalists are…

After a hard fought qualifying round, the judges have now come to a final decision on who has made it to the Fraud Awards short list for 2017.

The winners and runners-up will be announced at a Fraud Awards Gala Dinner on 5^th October at Leicester City Football Club.

This year saw a record number of entries.

“Because of the success of the previous Awards people have got to know us and the categories have been more fiercely contested than ever before,” said Mark Emmott, Director at Retail Knowledge.

“This year the event will accommodate more people than ever, and the judging panel is now truly international, not just from the UK and Europe, but from the US and Asia as well,” he said. “This reflects the internationalisation of Loss Prevention, as more and more frauds and thefts are committed by cross border criminals and transnational networks.

“Unlike in previous years the results will not be decided by consensus – judges will score entrants and submit their scores independently,” he added.

One reigning champion will be hoping to extend a winning streak. Cardinal Security (as a Group) has won the Vendor of the Year category for the last two years running and is shortlisted for it again.

“Cardinal Security sees these prestigious Awards as a fantastic opportunity to showcase our innovative approach to security guarding,” the company said.

Cardinal has also been shortlisted in the Most Innovative In-Store Solution category for its Guarded-365 platform through which the company “can intelligently task officers, improve compliance and demonstrate a clear return on investment,” it said.

But Cardinal is an exception; very few other companies are finalists in the same category this year as last. In fact the two short lists are very different.

Cyber security firm Foregenix, shortlisted for the Best Newcomer Award, told RRN why it entered the competition this year.

“We give talks all over the world on cyber security and I can think of no better stage to get the message over that we can all be highly effective at fighting cyber crime,” said Benjamin Hosack, CCO at Foregenix.

Foregenix is hoping to wow the judges with its FGX-Web cyber security solution that bakes security into websites to protect them from online criminal activity. The solution gives almost every online retailer the opportunity to protect its website from cyber criminals.

Another finalist in the Best Newcomer category is HooYu, the ID checking service, with its new HooYu verification product which uses digital footprint analysis and database checks to increase confidence in customers, and its new data visualisation tool Andromeda which helps review queue agents to quickly perform network link analysis and spot suspicious orders.

The team behind HooYu and Andromeda have been delivering ID checking technologies to leading online retailers in the UK over the past 15 years and saw the recent launch of their two new companies as the right moment to enter the Awards.

And here is the final list, by category:

Best Newcomer

Fast Check Service – Careercheck

Smartrule – The ai Corporation

The Slide Tag – Seckura Global

FGX-Web – Foregenix

GlobalGateway – Trulioo

Impersonation Checks & Andromeda – HooYu

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Most Innovative In-Store Solution 

Noccela

Live Customer Occupancy Watch – VAS/Oncam

IMCo Hook Pro Plus – B2B/SG Systems

Guarded-365 – Cardinal Security

ICT – Volumatic

STaaS – Johnson Controls

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Most Innovative In-Store Surveillance

Noccela

Co-op iCCTV – SECOM

“One Box” CCTV Solution – VAS/Oncam

Event Visualizer – Checkpoint Systems

ICT – Volumatic

Axis Communications

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Most Innovative Online Solution 

ReD Shield with ReDi – ACI

Tactical Chargeback Representment -The Chargeback Company

Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network®  – Verifi

FGX-Web – Foregenix

Replacing Today’s Broken Chargeback System – Ethoca

GlobalGateway – Trulioo

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Most Innovative Cross-Functional Solution 

Risk Watch – Amberstone

Live Customer Occupancy Watch – VAS/Oncam

Replacing Today’s Broken Chargeback System – Ethoca

AS Watson UK/Savers & IntelliQ

Smartrule – The ai Corporation

Sensormatic Synergy Storefront Series – Johnson Controls

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Vendor of the Year 

RGIS

Kount

The ai Corporation

The Chargeback Company

ORIS

Cardinal Security

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Best Collaborative Solution

National Business Crime Solution

Vendman & Compass Group UK & Ireland

Good Faith Receiving Program, Sainsbury’s

Insight FCC Training, adidas

Cap-index & Kingdom for Co-op, Secom

ORIS Forums

Mobicode, Game & CEX

Axis Communications & The Metropolitan Police

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Rising Star Award

Chris Purcell, Matalan

Arina Sinakova,The Hut Group

Mike Wallis, Gunnebo

Jacek Czubak, adidas

Russell Barnett, Yodel

Gayle Cooper, Yodel

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Regional Profit Protection Manager of the Year 

Jason Saunders, Gap

Debbie MacDonald, Scotmid

Nick McGurk, Scotmid

Andrew Darling, Yodel

Catriona Macdonald, Celesio

Simon Wright, Compass

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In-Store Profit Protection Team of the Year

Risk & Solutions Teams – Boots

Profit Protection Team – Compass Group UK & Ireland

Business Controls Team – Selfridges

Security Hi-Impact – Yodel

Loss Prevention Team – Celesio

Game Retail

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Online Profit Protection Team of the Year

Profit Protection & Operations Teams – Scotmid

Fraud Operations Team – Express Gifts

e-Commerce Profit Protection Team – The Body Shop

Counter Fraud Function and Strategy – The Hut Group

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Retail Risk – Director of the Year

Ray Masouleh – Gulf Marketing Group

Michael Chambers – Matalan

Tim Moore – Swarovski

Tim Edwards – JD Sports Fashion

Sarah Cork – Yodel

Luke Hudman – Celesio