Social Network Analysis has already been used in a number
of areas, primarily focused on criminal activities. It turns out
that examining people’s acquaintances and affiliations can be
valuable in uncovering fraud including credit card theft, insurance
scams, health care abuse, and insider trading. According to Dan
McKenzie, Fraud Solutions Specialist at SAS Canada, financial
institutions are finding that SNA is helping uncover 20 to 50
times more fraudulent activity than had been the case before SNA
was used.3 Fraud is difficult to spot, because the incidents are
often buried within huge amounts of normal activity. Further, the
activities often seem normal in isolation.