In this episode of Third Party Risk Perspectives, host Chris Sindik, Senior Director of Third-Party Risk and Due Diligence at Blue Umbrella, sits down with Sakshi Sharma, Assistant Manager and leader of Blue Umbrella’s monitoring team, to explore the fast-evolving world of terrorist financing.
Sakshi shares frontline insights into both traditional funding methods—such as counterfeit goods, drug trafficking, charity fraud, and illicit oil sales—and the next-generation tactics reshaping the threat landscape. Together, they discuss how terrorist groups now exploit social media, online gaming, digital payments, deepfakes, and AI-powered propaganda to recruit vulnerable youth, launder money, and spread misinformation.
Listeners will learn:
This is an essential conversation for compliance professionals, risk leaders, parents, and anyone navigating today’s hyperconnected world.
Terrorist Financing - How Technology and Youth Culture Are Changing the Risk Landscape - Transcript
Chris Sindik: Welcome to the Third Party Risk Perspectives Podcast Series. My name is Chris Sindik. I am a Senior Director of Third Party Risk and Due Diligence at Blue Umbrella. And I'm joined today by a very special guest someone that I think is very much an expert on this topic. She's written about it and has a very unique and interesting perspective, Sakshi Sharma, one of our assistant managers here. Sakshi, very pleased to be speaking with you today. Can you just give a, a quick introduction to yourself. What you do here at Blue Umbrella, and we'll talk about this very engaging and important topic.
Sakshi Sharma: Yeah, sure. Hi Chris, and thank you so much for your kind words. Hi. I am Sakshi Sharma. I am assistant manager for Blue Umbrella. I have a team of seven incredible people. I manage monitoring team for Blue Umbrella. Thank you so much, Chris, for having me today.
Chris Sindik: Sakshi is really on the front lines when it comes to helping our clients , looking at potential risks via the media or watch list screening, et cetera. And for most companies out there, terrorist financing without a doubt is one of the keyrisks that they want to avoid. It's one of those that is a black flag.
You can't do it. You can't do anything even close to it. There are clear lists, uh, that you need to avoid. Certain companies or people that are related to terrorism, too, and it's just something that we want to rid the world of and financing is a huge part of that. So I think it's really important, maybe let's start at the beginning. What is terrorist financing and what are some of the more traditional ways, Sakshi, that you know of that the senefarious groups will, attempt to gather resources and money to fund their various causes?
Sakshi Sharma: When you hear the term terrorist financing, people usually think that it's the dirtymoney or it's the illegal money that is being exchanged. And then this money is being used to, carry out terrorist activities. So this is like pretty basic understanding that people have and they're like always associated this with money coming from all the illegal sources.
But there are multiple ways or multiple methods of funding terrorist activities. So for instance charities. So charities, it has this positive aura that you're putting money into a good cause. But charities is something that these terrorists use for funding their activities.
So they organized campaigns through these charities in the name of slain terrorist. Today's money for the Widow and the Orphan Kids. So it sound like a sad story. And people they give money to these organizations, and sometimes they don't even know that this money is gonna be used for further terroeist activities.
Then we have like drug trafficking, especially in areas in like southeast Asia. There is a lot of production of opium and these plantations are then sold, and then money is being generated for terrorist activities. In fact, there is a very common, drug called campton and these terrorists produce these drugs and they're so readily available and they're highly addictive. So you're earning money from the production and then you are also giving these drugs to terrorists and they can fight for three days straight without food or whatever.
Then we have the counterfeit consumer goods that are being soldon the dark web. All the artifacts they sell it illegally on the dark web. And then this money is used for the criminal activities. And there's one more traditional way that a lot of organization use, especially in areas where thereis good oil production.
They capture oil refineries. And then this oil is then sold inthe black market to other businesses and organization. Oil is a very lucrative business for terrorist organizations. So these are like some traditional ways they generate funds for their activities.
Chris Sindik: And certainly some of those are well known and they're, headlines about them. Justlie, cheat, and steal basically to gain some of those funds. And if someone is trying to stay away from these activities, it's, easy enough if you know there's someone that's on a list to encounter them, you just avoid them. But that's not the case in the majority of times too, where people are being scammed or lied to or. Involved in other illegal activities. And they aren'tjust going to an individual, they're going to a much larger organization that has awful motives behind them.
So just being aware of them is certainly a starting place. But as people learn these techniques that are being used, they stay one step aheadof them. We flag these things, if someone is looking to donate to a charity, make sure that they are, appropriately certified by the various agencies. Thecrime fighters are becoming more sophisticated. The criminals are becoming more sophisticated too, and, and things are changing certainly with a lot of the newavenues that are available, things coming online. So, Sakshi, as you've seen things change in the last 20 years or 10 years, or even the last few years, howare you finding that maybe financing techniques are evolving?
Sakshi Sharma: So the easy access to internet, I believe is one major change I have observed. Soinitially, if you go 10 or 20 years back, I used to see, Osama Bin Laden orother terrorists, they're using DVDs and they're watching themselves on the recorded DVDs and CDs. But now if you see today's terrorist organization, they're very tech savvy. So easy access to internet without any proper monitoring is one of the major changes I've seen from the traditional wayterrorist organization operated.
And now if you see today, they have propaganda videos. They have Facebook pages. They have Telegram groups and chats. They're creating propagandas and videos. If you go and watch one of their videos, you'll actually see how good quality videos they are generating. This is all because internet is easily available. You can get ideas from all across the globe.
Chris Sindik: Yeah. And I think that that's very telling, Sakshi. And it's not just, terrorist financing, it's other types of scams that people are running. They're leveraging new technologies. They're leveraging social media. They're leveraging these new platforms that are emerging. Crypto, AI, et cetera, whatever it might be. To evolve and come up with new ways to engage their audience.
It's like any other business where engagement is the key sometimes. Not to say that it's, like another business there's certainly using some of those techniques that we might expect for more, mainstream, legitimate businesses these days. And I think it really is a sign of the times too, where they're trying to keep up with their audience so to speak. As the youth is experiencing the media and the world differently. They're adapting. So how do you see these changes maybe impacting the youth, the upcoming generations that have to deal with these sort of experiences online or otherwise that previous generations didn't.
Sakshi Sharma: Yeah, and that's actually very good point, Chris. Social media and online gaming it has become a trend these days. And I have not seen a single person without an Instagram profile. And these platform, they're being used to lure people, torecruit, and to channel illegal money. In fact, there are a lot of studies that it, it is happening because there is no proper regulations.
Even a minor can create an Instagram account. You can fake your ID and you have your Instagram account, you have your YouTube account, you haveyour online gaming account. In fact, a lot of times, these criminals, they create fake accounts. They connect with people, especially young generation, because these days everybody wants to be a blogger. Everybody wants to be an influencer.
And when you are hungry for the fame, when you're hungry for that attention, these criminals, they just take this opportunity. They will lure you. They will try to convince you that it's easy to make money. They posta campaign or they just post news that you can make easy money. They createmule accounts for them as well and it's very easy to create, gaming account these days. In fact, like black dark web is also used. These criminals, theyget information from dark web, they create fake account. It's easy.
Chris Sindik: Yeah. And certainly as the crime stoppers become more sophisticated, they certainly try to keep up as best they can too, and it's infiltrating these communication channels that maybe aren't as monitored, as other channels are. Whether it's agaming community or an online community, the dark web, et cetera. It's been in some ways easier than ever to have covert communications and do onlinerecruiting and things like this. It's a very connected society. And you mentioned you haven't met anyone without an Instagram profile. Today that changes 'cause I don't have Instagram.
But certainly these are the places where people hang out. Where are they spending their time? They're spending time online. And again, it's the appeal to fit into their world and not the other way around, to engage in someof that recruitment or financing efforts as well.
I think another key consideration is that, and depending onwhere you are in the world, I know that there can be a big focus in NorthAmerica, at least in the US government on activities in Latin America. There's been a lot of talk about cartels as it relates to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and how exactly those cartels are being funded.
A lot of times it is through bribery. It's not just a bribe that goes into an individual's pocket and then they're having a steak dinner that night or whatever it may be, but they're a part of a larger organization and that low level bribe ends up in the hands of a terrorist organization. And having those organizations be a part of legitimate businesses, whether it's agas station or a convenience store, or, a restaurant, a textile company, whatever it might be using that as a front to launder the money and be a front for legitimate business operations, having business ID numbers, et cetera.
It can be a fine line between those businesses that may seem legitimate, but, looking at the ultimate beneficial ownership or where the money's going, it can be a lot different. And I think that as we look at the influence that this is having on the changes that the audience is experiencing and as people are being encountered or being approached with scams or, ransomware attacks or whatever it might be, scam phone calls, et cetera.
It's awareness of these and having people armed with the knowledge that these aren't legitimate operations, these are scams and ultimately the money is going, to these particular causes that we're obviously trying to not fund and stamp out in as many ways as possible, and the financing goes away a lot of times they get less powerful.
But I think you brought a really interesting perspective here too. I know it's a topic you're very passionate about but do you have any other key takeaways for our audience or any other material that you think would beuseful for people to be aware of as they navigate this topic?
Sakshi Sharma: Yes, Chris. If you just imagine a terrorist organization using Facebook or let's just say a drug trafficker using Snapchat, posting something that, okay, I earnthis much money, felt cute, my delete later, it'll resonate with today's generation. In fact, what happens is, this is one, Snapchat is one of the major platform, and I know it'll sound absurd.
There is organizational drug trafficker using Snapchat, but it is happening. So Snapchat is one of the major and very popular ways these criminals attract youth. They will just post, a big chunk of money. And they will post easy money or who wants to make money. And a lot of people will replyto it, especially the young adults or the young generation.
They will reply to it. All they have to do is give their birthdetails, their name, and the drug trafficker, or any criminal, they just ask them to hold this money into their account for some time. And this way they create layers and layers. Now, these new generation people, they don't know what this money came from. But because they want to sound cool or they want tolook cool holding that chunk of money in their group. So they, they get attracted to these sort of post.
There is also like AI and deepfakes. These days it is very easy to create images, fake images, fake voice notes, fake videos. ChatGPT, it's definitely a great tool if you use it, but this is definitely very dangerous if we are talking about the criminal organization because it is very easy to use ChatGPT and create fake, propaganda.
Chris Sindik: It wouldn't be a podcast without mentioning AI in some way or another. And, it canreally amplify a lot of these messages that are out there currently. I think that everyone has seen by now an example of a deep fake video or some other AI,very sophisticated, very realistic looking video of, perhaps a political leader. Maybe a video that supports their cause, but it's completely fabricated. Although it may not be a direct call for money, it's really undermining the truth a lot of times and it's spreading false propaganda. It can get people motivated for their cause in one way or another. So just the whole AI aspect of it, like everything else, it changes it, significantly.
Sakshi Sharma: Yes.Yes, that's true. In fact AI and deepfakes, it, has reduced the authenticity of anything original. It is also used to incite violence, riots, or straight upmilitary coup. In some of the countries, AI and tech and internet, wheneverthere is any riot or anything like that, internet is the first thing thegovernment, they shut it down because they know the implications of, these fakevideos and news circling on social media or on the news portals. And it is veryeasy to even build fake websites, not only to incite violence, but to do fraudor scam people.
Chris Sindik: Yeah. And when you turn off the communications, it's kind of like when the internet goes out at your house people sometimes don't know what to do with themselves.You, you know, it's like, Hey, well I was using that for my information and to talk to people. And when that is. Taking out, an internet kill switch, so to speak, it can cause confusion or misinformation a lot of times or prevent the spread of true information too.
Sakshi Sharma: Yeah. Even people get brainwashed and because , you can never know what is the realsource or the original source of any video or photo is, you don't even know ifit's even real. To say the least, it is very dangerous and frightening to just imagine how this will turn out if it gets out of hand.
Chris Sindik:Certainly, and who says it's not outta hand right now in some instances too. Sakshi, thank you very much for your perspective and your keen insights on this topic. I always like talking with you and today's conversation has been no exception in that regard. So before we conclude, any, any final words for our audience?
Sakshi Sharma: I think awareness is the key because technology is developing and it won't stopin future. So it's better you prevent yourself from being used for anything illegal. It's okay to go viral, but it's not okay to go viral for any wrong reason. Before you post anything or before you believe anything on social mediaor over the internet, it's better you go deep into the original source and, you understand that if it is authentic or not. So I think awareness and responsibility is certainly are two major things I would say people should be.
Chris Sindik: Absolutely. Just that innate skepticism can help a lot of time. And for organizations to build a process that has checks and balances in place. Don't leave, payment controls up to just one or two people have a lot of fail safes that are in there. Multiple lines of defense so you know, you can make sure that the payments don't get into the wrong hands. And I think you hit the nailon the head where it's a awareness and looking at things and questioning it and consider the source. Because this is an area that I think people want to do the right things, but they have to have a conscious effort behind that to avoid these more sophisticated scams too.
Again thank you for your time. And to our audience, thank you for tuning in to today's podcast. If you're interested in more information like this, take a look at some of the additional episodes in this series where we discuss current and emerging trends and compliance and third party risk management industry.
You can also find additional resources on third party risk management on our website. Blueumbrella.com. But thank you very much and we'll see you next time.