Banking Dive Trendline on Fraud and AML in banking

Banks and credit unions are bolstering their scam defenses through hiring and new services and tools, as they grapple with an increase in scams targeting older customers. 

Fifth Third has expanded its scam investigations team, due to the increased volume of reported scams and the time involved in addressing them, said Kris Edwards, the bank’s head of fraud prevention. The bank declined to detail the number of recent hires, but Edwards said Fifth Third has established a dedicated scams program team and continues to hire. 

The Cincinnati-based regional is also increasing its detection strategies to better spot signals and identify scams as they’re happening, Edwards said in a recent interview. 

The bank’s goal is to intervene during a scam attempt, rather than relying on a post-scam investigation, he said.

“I'd rather spend the time calling out, ‘Hey, we're seeing some signals that you may be participating in a scam,’” where, historically, a lot of the bank’s efforts have been focused on outreach afterward, Edwards said. “I'd rather get out in front of that and place our resources there.”

Edwards told Banking Dive earlier this year that Fifth Third has seen a “dramatic rise” in bank impersonation scams, where a fraudster impersonates the lender to trick a customer into parting with their money. Scams impersonating a government entity or tech support are also common.

Last year, adults age 60 and older reported losses of about $7.7 billion, up about 59% from 2024, according to FBI data. And the number of complaints rose 37%, to 201,266 in 2025.   

Among other recent efforts to combat scam activity, $297 billion-asset Fifth Third has rolled out AARP’s BankSafe training for front-line staff and fraud teams, to educate them on signs of financial exploitation of older adults. And Fifth Third recently added a report phishing capability within SmartShield, its in-app security tool, which allows customers to upload a suspicious text, email or phone call so the bank’s fraud team can analyze its details.

About 25% of the submissions have been deemed fraudulent. The “good news is that 75% are legitimate, and customers are reporting just to get confirmation instead of guessing,” Edwards said. “For that other 25%, we're able to get them on the phone and help them to work through next steps and different pieces of education and prevention.”

Edwards said he didn’t expect so many of the bank’s legitimate fraud alerts to be submitted for scrutiny. 

While it’s positive that customers are on alert, Edwards said he is concerned that the bank’s real fraud alerts aren’t reaching customers, if they struggle to decipher between scam and authentic messages.

That has Fifth Third evaluating the language and phrasing used in its alerts, to make it abundantly clear messages are actually from the bank. The bank recently updated its one-time password protocol language, although Edwards noted it’s an ongoing battle.

Scammers “know exactly what our language looks like, and so it's very easy for them to replicate,” he said.

Star One

Since seeing a rise in scams targeting older members, Sunnyvale, California-based Star One Credit Union in January introduced a new opt-in service that allows members to add a trusted contact, said Vanessa Brosas, vice president of deposit services at the credit union.

That might be a family member or friend the bank can reach out to if a member can’t be reached or is exhibiting signs they might be a scam target, she said. Star One doesn’t share detailed information with the contact, but suggests they reach out to check on the member, she said.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of talking to people,” Brosas said in a recent interview.

In other cases, the $9.3 billion-asset credit union leans on law enforcement to convince a member they’re being victimized, as it did with a recent situation where a member almost sent a wire transfer for a couple hundred thousand dollars, Brosas said.

Because bad actors try to get people to act quickly, the credit union emphasizes members should “stop, hang up and call Star One,” she said.

To help staff identify scam-related behavior, the credit union is also implementing a new fraud management system later this year that employs AI and features a consortium of thousands of financial institutions, Brosas said.

Star One also hosts webinars and visits senior centers to educate members on scams, as part of its multipronged effort. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America in June said it’s hosting 1,000 in-person scam and fraud prevention seminars through the rest of the year, as part of its efforts to educate consumers on the topic. 

As scammers alter their tactics, “you can’t just have a one-option solution when it comes to fraud mitigation,” Brosas said. “You really need to layer things on.”

To that end, Brosas welcomes the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s updated guidance, issued June 12, which clarifies that financial institutions can share information in real time to respond quickly to emerging threats. Inhibited information sharing among banks and credit unions has prevented the industry from addressing the fraud and scams issue in a more robust way, lawmakers have said.

“We were all celebrating,” Brosas said of the FinCEN update. 

Edwards, too, said it’s a positive step and eliminates most uncertainty and legal risk tied to information sharing between banks. 

But more needs to be done, Brosas contended, from holding telecommunication companies accountable to broader education and awareness campaigns for consumers. 

“With the use of AI, if we don’t do something differently, the bad actors are going to far surpass our capabilities,” Brosas said.