Laura Hollaway Finding Fraud Angels: Empowering Women in the Fraud Fighting World

Connect with Laura: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fintechsalesleader/ Valid Systems: https://www.linkedin.com/company/valid-systems/home/ Women in Fraud: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/34470006/ Trail of the Lost: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/64000414-trail-of-the-lost Hailey Windham: https://www.revfcu.com/knockout-fraud/ Kelly interviews Laura Hollaway, senior director of strategic growth at Valid Systems, about her LinkedIn-based Women in Fraud community and how it grew organically.  After 20+ years in enterprise sales and an 862-mile Appalachian Trail hike in 2024, Laura joined Valid Systems and sought mentors to quickly learn banking fraud; she started a free newsletter to recognize women practitioners, noting many fraud, risk, and compliance roles VP and below are 70–75% women while leadership skews male. Valid supported the initiative with a first-year budget for a “no sales zone,” helping it grow to 2,200 newsletter subscribers, 650 community members, monthly coffee talks, and live workshops.  We discuss information sharing across institutions, remote work’s isolation, shared community resources (victim-conversation tools, a vendor list, and a member directory), male allies, and recommendations like Fraud Forward and Daniel Pink’s To Sell Is Human. 00:36 Dinner With Al Capone 01:15 Mafia Stories and Books 02:44 Who Steals More 04:27 Laura Origin Story 07:05 Appalachian Trail Tales 09:13 Valid Systems Backs Women 11:38 Sharing Is Caring in Fraud 13:20 Women Leaders and AI Shift 15:53 Coffee Talks and Resources 18:07 Remote Work and LinkedIn 20:51 Professionally Persistent 22:03 Fraud Media Recommendations 28:30 Books Sales and Scammers 31:18 How to Join and Support