Financial Services Fraud Protection: 3 Essential Steps

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of financial firms report overall fraud increasing in the past 12 months, with digital channels accounting for half of the overall fraud losses, according to the LexisNexis^® True Cost of Fraud^™ Study. As financial institutions expand their digital presence—whether through mobile apps, online banking, or social media—security teams must address the growing risks that come with increased engagement. 

In 2025, the financial sector has a vast digital footprint, much of which lies outside traditional security perimeters, making it a prime target for cybercriminals. But protecting customers, employees, and sensitive information requires continuous monitoring, proactive identification, and swift remediation of digital threats. 

First, we’ll walk through the top digital threats facing financial services institutions. Then, we’ll review the three essential steps you can take to help protect your organization with comprehensive fraud protection.

Top Digital Threats Facing Financial Institutions

1. Financial Services Fraud and Social Media Scams

• Fake investment opportunities, money-flipping scams, and fraudulent giveaways deceive customers into handing over credentials or funds.
• Threat actors use hashtag hijacking to exploit trending topics and mislead customers.
• Bad actors are increasingly creating malicious QR codes in payment scams.

2. Impersonation Attacks

• Cybercriminals create fake social media profiles mimicking your brand, executives, or customer support accounts.
• Impersonation attacks often lure customers into sharing sensitive financial details, leading to direct monetary loss.

3. Fraudulent Mobile Apps

• Fake banking apps, malicious overlays, and rogue financial applications steal login credentials and personal information. These apps are often disguised as legitimate services, tricking users into downloading them.

4. Phishing, Malware, and Spoofed Domains

• Cybercriminals deploy phishing links through email, social media, and text messages, directing users to fraudulent login pages.
• Spoofed domains that closely resemble legitimate financial sites are used to steal sensitive credentials.

5. Information Leakage and Data Breaches

• Cybercriminals sell stolen credentials and customer data on the deep and dark web.
• Threat actors use leaked employee information to launch social engineering attacks against financial institutions.

While the threat landscape continues to evolve, financial institutions can take strategic steps to mitigate these risks and safeguard their customers. You’ll find the simple steps you can take to protect your financial organization from digital threats below.

3 Steps to Financial Services Fraud Protection

1. Secure and Monitor Your Digital Footprint

The first step to reducing digital risk is securing your organization’s owned digital presence. Take stock of all official accounts, implement access controls, and deploy security measures such as:

• Strong, unique passwords managed with a password manager.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts, especially those with multiple users.
• Automated alerts for unauthorized access attempts or suspicious activity.

A compromised account can lead to direct financial losses, brand damage, and customer trust erosion. Identifying and proactively protecting these known (and unknown) internet-facing assets with an External Attack Surface Management solution should be your top priority.

2. Proactively Detect and Mitigate Threats

To stay ahead of cybercriminals, financial services organizations need real-time visibility into external threats. Implement a monitoring solution that can:

• Detect impersonation attempts across social media, websites, and mobile app stores.
• Identify fraudulent domains and phishing attacks targeting your brand and customers.
• Alert security teams to credential leaks and other data breaches on the dark web.

A proactive threat detection strategy boosts financial services fraud protection by minimizing the time cybercriminals have to execute their attacks and limits their impact.

3. Educate Customers and Employees on Security Best Practices

Even the most advanced security tools can’t prevent every attack. That’s why financial institutions must invest in cybersecurity awareness training for both employees and customers.

• Employee Training: Educate teams on recognizing phishing attempts, social engineering tactics, and best practices for securing corporate accounts.
• Customer Awareness: Provide clear guidance on how to identify scams, avoid fake accounts, and secure their financial information online.

A well-informed customer base is less likely to fall victim to fraud, reducing financial and reputational risks for your institution.

Strengthen Your Cybersecurity with Financial Services Fraud Protection

Financial services institutions need full-spectrum digital risk protection and analyst-vetted threat intelligence products and services. Your fraud protection solution should:

• Protect against social media account takeovers, impersonations, fraud, and scams targeting customers and employees.
• Stop bad actors from exploiting and abusing branding, messaging, products, and IP.
• Thwart external threats to customer engagement, reputation, and revenue.

Does your current digital risk protection solution check all these boxes? ZeroFox does. That’s why 5 of the top 10 financial institutions globally trust ZeroFox to protect their brands, sensitive client and employee data, and critical assets. Learn more by exploring our latest financial services brief.