The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned about the rise in cyber criminals impersonating financial institutions to steal funds or information in ATO fraud schemes.
The bureau has issued an alert regarding cyber criminals targeting individuals, businesses, and organisations of varied sizes and across industries. Since January 2025, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received over 5,100 complaints reporting ATO fraud. The losses from these schemes go beyond USD 262 million.
The increase in ATO schemes across the US
In ATO fraud specifically, bad actors gain unauthorised access to the targeted online financial institution, payroll, or health savings account, aiming to steal money or information for personal gain.
According to recent data from Sift, this type of fraud has positioned itself among the fastest-growing threats that digital businesses encounter in 2025. In 2024 alone, ATO exceeded ransomware as the main enterprise security concern, with 83% of organisations experiencing a minimum of one incident.
Moreover, losses from ATO are considerable, with them being expected to rise to USD 17 billion in 2025, compared to USD 13 billion the year before. This rapid increase is driven by malicious bot activity, infostealer, malware, and more sophisticated AI-powered technologies such as deepfakes, large-scale credential stuffing, and fraud-as-a-service kits.
Method of operation
According to the FBI, the cyber criminal pretends to be the financial institution’s staff or website, in a bid to obtain access to the account. Usually, access is gained through social engineering techniques, including texts, calls, and emails, or via fraudulent websites.
After receiving access and control of the accounts, the cyber criminals wire funds to other criminal-controlled accounts, with most of them being linked to cryptocurrency wallets. Thus, funds are disbursed efficiently and tracing and recovering them pose difficulties. In some particular cases, these bad actors change the online account password, locking the owner out of their own financial accounts.
FBI’s tips for maintaining safety
To stay protected against ATO fraud attempts, the FBI mentions:
- Monitoring financial accounts regularly to spot any irregularities, such as missing deposits or unauthorised withdrawals, wire transfers, or expenditures;
- Utilising unique, complex factors, as well as two-factor authentication or MFS on any account;
- Maintain vigilance against phishing attempts;
- Maintain carefulness regarding the information shared online or on social media;
Furthermore, in case an ATO incident happens, the FBI underlines the steps that should be taken, including contacting the financial institution, resetting or revoking compromised credentials, filing a complaint, and notifying the impersonated company.
