Last Year's Speakers

Naftali Harris is co-founder and CEO of SentiLink, a provider of best-in-class identity verification and fraud mitigation solutions. SentiLink’s products verify customer identities and detect identity theft, synthetic fraud, and hard-to-detect forms of first party fraud. SentiLink serves over 400 institutions – including leading banks, fintechs, telcos, and many others – and verifies over 3 million identities each day.

Prior to SentiLink, Naftali was the first data scientist at the online lender Affirm and built and led their Risk Decisioning team. He holds a BA in Statistics from the University of Chicago, and subsequently earned an MA in Statistics from Stanford, where he was a Stanford Graduate Fellow. He lives with his family in Austin, TX.

Dr. David Maimon is the fraud world’s go-to investigator and storyteller. As Head of Fraud Insights at SentiLink and director of Georgia State University’s Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Group, he pairs dark-web intelligence with analytical techniques to expose how criminals build synthetic identities, hijack accounts, and monetize stolen credentials.

Banks, telcos, prop-tech platforms, energy providers, and government agencies rely on his research and plain-spoken guidance to spot emerging scams early, tighten identity verification, and slash fraud losses—often before the schemes even hit the headlines.

Gasan Awad leads PNC Bank’s Enterprise Fraud Product Management team, where he is responsible for leveraging various capabilities to mitigate fraud risk while promoting healthy business growth and enabling a great customer experience.

Gasan is a fraud and risk geek who brings more than 25+ years of fraud and risk management experience with increasing levels of responsibility in the Financial Services Sector, Identity, Fraud, and Financial Crimes Product Management.

Gasan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international business from the University of Georgia

Trish Wexler is a Managing Director for Global Corporate Communications and a
lead spokesperson for the Firm. She leads the Firm’s Public Affairs Communications team, focusing on legislative, regulatory and litigation matters. She is a member of the Global Government Relations Leadership Team, and develops advocacy strategies supporting the Firm’s policy priorities in Washington, D.C. and in statehouses around the U.S.

Previously, Trish served as the Chief Communications Officer for Chase, leading media relations, executive communications, employee communications, and social media. She joined the firm in 2013. Trish has worked in crisis communications and public affairs for more than 25 years, specializing in financial services legislative and regulatory issues. Prior to joining the firm, she was a Senior Partner at VOX Global, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm, where she led the Financial Services Practice Group. Over the course of her career, she has worked on some of the industry’s most important policy matters, including Dodd Frank, interchange fees, credit card rules, and credit reporting issues.

Ms. Wexler serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for InCharge Financial Solutions, a nonprofit credit counseling, housing counseling and financial wellness
organization. She also serves on the Board for the Public Affairs Council. She graduated from University of Richmond where she studied International Studies,
Japanese and Math. She lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.

Andrew Cromwell serves as Head of Client Trust and Financial Protection within Client Protection at Bank of America. In this role, he leads enterprise-wide efforts to protect clients, the bank, and the broader financial system from fraud, scams, abuse, and emerging threats, while ensuring secure and seamless access to legitimate financial services. His organization focuses on fraud and scam prevention across payment channels, client education, and trust-building initiatives that strengthen confidence and security. Andrew also oversees compliance and risk alignment and chairs the Trust Policy Council, which establishes frameworks for transparency, reimbursement standards, and response to emerging risks. Under Andrew’s leadership, trust and safety principles are deeply embedded into products and operations, driving strategic initiatives that position Bank of America as an industry leader in security and client confidence. His teams collaborate closely with law enforcement, payment networks, peer financial institutions, and technology partners to deliver coordinated solutions that mitigate risk and strengthen client loyalty.

Throughout his tenure at Bank of America, Andrew has held senior leadership roles across multiple lines of business, leading efforts in fraud prevention, operational performance, and risk management. Prior to his current role, he served as Fraud Strategy Executive for Secured Lending, Check, and Deposit products, where he advanced fraud prevention initiatives and reduced losses. He also served as Operations Performance Executive for Client Protection, overseeing Detection Operations and driving enterprise-wide process improvements, and previously held the role of Shared Services Executive within Enterprise Customer Care Resolution, managing regulatory complaints and complex cases. Andrew joined Bank of America in 2010, where he established underwriting and servicing support for loan modifications for struggling homeowners.

Before joining Bank of America, Andrew spent 13 years in the wholesale mortgage industry, holding senior leadership roles including Director of Operations, Sales, and Credit at Accredited Home Lenders, People’s Choice Home Loans, and JPMorgan Chase.

Andrew earned his MBA from Lincoln University. Originally from Pennsylvania, he moved to California in 2002 and resides in Anaheim Hills with his wife and two children.

Jen Martin is a seasoned fraud prevention executive with over 25 years of criminal justice, banking, and fraud prevention experience. She has successfully built and led high-performing fraud programs, implemented fraud detection technologies, and developed policies to combat evolving threats.

Jen has helped safeguard organizations from significant financial and reputational risk as related to fraud.

Katie O'Neill is a veteran strategist at the intersection of risk management and product innovation. She leads consumer and dealer fraud prevention for Capital One Auto, including ProtectID - Capital One Auto’s new automated fraud protection tool for auto dealers.

With a 15-year tenure at Capital One, Katie’s expertise spans several business areas, including personal loans and mortgage. She has deep expertise in automotive lending and serves as a credit officer for the auto business.

Katie holds a degree in Economics and History from the University of Michigan and resides in Dallas with her husband and three children ages 6, 3 and 7 months.

Experienced Fraud leader with more than 10 years of experience in identity and transactional fraud mitigations across both retail deposits and lending.

Data science and analytics professional focused on developing machine learning, and analytical insights to deliver meaningful results for the line of business. 

Michael Steinbach joined Citi in February 2017 as the Director of Cyber Fraud responsible for developing an intelligence led approach to combating significant cyber-enabled fraud. In April 2018, he assumed the role of Head of Personal Banking and Wealth Management Fraud Prevention. This expanded role included end to end accountability to prevent, detect, and mitigate fraud across all Consumer Bank lines of business and regions worldwide. In June of 2023, Michael led the merger of Financial Crimes with Fraud Prevention, creating an industry-first global utility with end-to-end responsibility for adherence to Anti Money Laundering and Know Your Customer (AML/KYC) regulations and prevention of fraud throughout the entirety of the customer lifecycle. In his current role of Head of Financial Crimes and Fraud Prevention, Michael leads a dynamic organization focused on a transformative digital first strategy that delivers industry leading AML/KYC and fraud performance while ensuring his team provides value to the customer through automation, digitization, and frictionless experiences.​

Before joining Citi, Michael was the Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch of the FBI where he provided strategic leadership for the FBI’s national security program to include all investigative and intelligence efforts involving counterterrorism, counterespionage, and the threat from weapons of mass destruction.​

Michael began his 22-year career in the FBI investigating violent crimes and went on to hold numerous leadership positions to include Deputy On-scene Commander of FBI operations in Afghanistan; Legal Attaché to Tel Aviv, Israel; Deputy Director for Law Enforcement Services at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center; Special Agent in Charge of the Jacksonville and Miami Field Offices; and Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division.​

Michael earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the US Naval Academy in 1988, after which he served as a naval aviator in the US Navy. He also holds a Homeland Security Leaders Certificate from the Naval Postgraduate School.​

Kaitlyn Burke is Head of US Fraud Management at TD Bank, leading the frontline bank-wide efforts to protect customers and the bank from external fraud across prevention, detection, and response. Previously, as Head of US Fraud Operations, Kaitlyn led large-scale operational transformation initiatives that improved efficiency, increased colleague engagement, and enhanced the customer experience.

With more than 20 years in banking, she is a proven strategic leader recognized for deep expertise in fraud strategy, operations, and customer protection in complex, highly regulated environments. Kaitlyn holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University and a MBA from Rutgers University School of Business.

Erich Kron, CISO Advisor at KnowBe4 is an author, a podcast host and regular contributor to cybersecurity industry publications. He is a veteran information security professional with over 30 years of experience in the medical, aerospace, manufacturing, and defense fields. His experience has fueled his passion for helping to address the human side of cybersecurity.

He is the former security manager for the US Army's 2nd Regional Cyber Center and holds CISSP, CISSP-ISSAP, SACP, and many other certifications. Erich has worked with information security professionals around the world to provide the tools, training, and educational opportunities to succeed in Information Security.

Jason Kratovil is Head of Public Policy and External Affairs at SentiLink, the leader in identity verification technology. In this capacity, he leads all aspects of the company’s engagement with federal policymakers, advises on several aspects of the company's go-to-market strategy, and serves as program manager for solutions partnering with government agencies.

He is a recognized expert in identity fraud, payments, data securit,y and consumer privacy, having testified before the US Congress. Jason also serves as Chair of the Fairfax County (VA) Consumer Protection Commission and on the Board of Directors of the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Previously, Jason was a principal at the Washington, DC law firm of Sivon, Natter & Wechsler, P.C. While at the firm, he founded the Consumer First Coalition, where he led efforts on behalf of the financial industry to build a real-time Social Security number verification service with the US Social Security Administration. Prior to that, he established and led the payments, technology, and cybersecurity practice at the Financial Services Roundtable. He has also worked on payments, innovatio,n and retail banking policy at the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Jason served for six years as Legislative Director for U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (OH-14), where he focused on consumer protection and data security issues with the US House Financial Services Committee. Kratovil began his professional career in marketing communications at Dell, where he helped manage the company’s relationships with key enterprise software partners. Jason received a Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University and two B.A. degrees from Miami University (OH). He also holds a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) certification.

Karl Lubenow is a seasoned Fraud Intelligence Analyst with over a decade of experience in financial services, e-commerce, and identity fraud prevention. As the first fraud operations hire at SentiLink, Karl specializes in detecting fraudulent applications, with a strong focus on identity theft. He brings deep expertise in identity fraud, synthetic fraud, SMB fraud, first party fraud, fraud claims, chargebacks, and risk mitigation strategies.

Prior to joining SentiLink, Karl also served as the first Fraud Fighter at Affirm, where he played a key role in identifying suspicious trends, influencing risk model development, and resolving high-impact risk events. His earlier experience at Cleverbridge further honed his real-time fraud screening and global payment risk analysis skills, while his background in customer support laid the foundation for his commitment to service and operational excellence.

Karl holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is based in Reno. Passionate about building systems that stop fraud before it starts, Karl is a collaborative and analytical force in the fight against financial crime.

Will Goh leads the Strategic Partnerships team at SentiLink, where his team collaborates with the largest, most strategic institutions to verify identities, prevent fraud, increase originations, and improve operational efficiency. Will has over 20 years of experience in sales, relationship management, and partnerships across various industries, primarily in Financial Services and Fintech.

Before joining SentiLink, Will held sales and leadership positions at Blend, Charles River Development (which was acquired by State Street), and Advent Software (now part of SS&C). Notably, he spent more than six years at Blend, including during the company's IPO in 2021. Outside of his passion for fighting fraud, Will enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and coaching his two sons' sports teams.

Paul Byrne is an innovative and results-driven financial services executive focused on financial crimes. As Head of Fraud Solutions at SentiLink, he works with SentiLink’s partners to achieve maximum impact on fraud & CIP risk by leveraging SentiLink’s solutions and optimizes their decisioning funnels to successfully balance fraud risk and customer experience.

Paul brings deep business, operational, analytical, and risk knowledge of retail banking, deposits & lending, credit, BSA/AML & fraud risk from 18+ years of product management and customer risk decisioning experience at PNC Bank. Paul has held leadership positions as head of retail deposits, head of retail consumer and small business lending, head of AML transaction modeling and fraud risk decisioning, and head of customer management. Paul was on the NACHA Board of Directors for six years and on several CBA Committees, most recently the CBA Fraud Management Committee for five years.

Prior to joining PNC, Paul was an Associate Partner with McKinsey & Co.Paul received an M.B.A. from Harvard, an M.S. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a masters in banking management with honors from the CBA Executive Banking School.

Cat McGuire is the Principal Partner Success Manager at SentiLink where she manages the company’s largest and most strategic partners. She specializes in handling complex strategy topics such as fraud model optimization, eCBSV and model governance.

Prior to SentiLink she managed strategic brands at Affirm and was a strategic communications consultant for municipalities seeking local funding across the state of California. She currently lives in Chicago with her husband and two poodles, Finn and Mimi.

Charlie Custer is Technical Research and Content Lead at SentiLink, where he spends much of his time digging in SentiLink's data for interesting stories and trends.

He is the originator and lead author of SentiLink's biannual Fraud Report. He lives in Maine with his wife and daughter.

Tim Forrest is a Fraud Intelligence Analyst with experience focused on identifying and preventing financial fraud across high-risk and emerging areas. Tim is currently part of SentiLink’s Fraud Intelligence team, with over 2.5 years supporting fraud detection efforts and analyzing evolving fraud patterns.

Prior to SentiLink Tim, focused on identifying and stopping crypto-related fraud at BlockFi. Tim brings a strong analytical approach to fraud investigation, risk analysis, and mitigation strategies, with a focus on strengthening defenses against modern financial crime.