How Bank Impersonation Scams Erode Customer Trust

Each year, financial scams cost banks up to $400 million in losses. Despite heavy investments in anti-fraud technology, banks are struggling to protect customers. Bank impersonation scams continue to be the most widely used approach for duping banking customers, said cybercrime expert Al Pascual.

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“If I am a bank, I should be most concerned about bank impersonation scams. This leads to a whole lot of other costs that you may not be aware of or thinking about,” Pascual said.

In one of the most common ruses, scammers text potential victims an average of six times to trick them into transferring money. Often, those texts result in customers calling their bank to verify the text. These calls are considerably longer than typical customer service calls and often result in extended hold times for customers.

“So, you have operational costs to think about, but there is also an issue of bank trust. When you have scammers impersonating banks, that is undermining trust,” Pascual said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Pascual also discussed:

• The types of scams banks most often miss;
• How banks can do a better job of tracking scams;
• The vendor market for new solutions.

Pascual is the former senior principal and enterprise solutions lead at TransUnion. He also led Javelin’s Advisory Services and Custom Research businesses. Pascual provides clients actionable insights on a variety of fraud and security issues, acts as a partner in developing strategies for managing risk, and identifies and raises awareness of emerging threats and solutions.