Before the Money Is Gone
How responsible data helps banks and other trusted institutions stop fraud and scams before consumers pay the price.
Your phone rings. The caller ID shows your bank’s name.
The person on the line knows enough about you to sound convincing. They say your account has been compromised and your savings are at risk. To protect your money, they tell you, you need to move it immediately to a “safe” account.
But the account is not safe. The caller is not from your bank. And once the transfer is complete, the money may be nearly impossible to recover.
This is what a modern scam can look like: personal, urgent and frighteningly believable.
In fact, the Federal Trade Commission says some of the costliest impersonation scams begin with a fake bank security alert and instructions to move money. The harm is not an abstract “fraud event.” It is a drained savings account, a stolen tax refund, a credit card opened in your name or months spent trying to reclaim your identity.
Scammers Are Getting Better at Looking Legitimate
Scams increasingly exploit the trust people place in banks, government agencies, well-known businesses and even family members. In 2025, consumers reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud, according to testimony the FTC delivered to Congress. Imposter scams were the most frequently reported category, accounting for more than one million reports and $3.5 billion in reported losses.
“When a bank or payment provider evaluates a transaction, it looks for warning signs: Is the receiving account newly created? Is it connected to other suspicious activity? Does the transaction sharply depart from the customer’s normal behavior? Does the identity behind the account match what other reliable information indicates? Responsible data provides those answers.”
Those figures capture only part of the damage. A Federal Reserve survey found that one in five adults experienced financial fraud or a scam involving their money in 2025. Among those who experienced non-credit-card fraud, nearly two-thirds lost money. The Fed estimated that consumers ultimately absorbed $56 billion in unrecovered losses.
Behind every number is someone who believed a convincing text, answered a call that appeared legitimate or discovered that a criminal had used their identity to open an account.
The Moment That Matters Is Before the Money Moves
Scams are hard to stop, because the account holder IS the victim. Consumer education matters. Retailers and Financial Institutions are also training their staff to recognize when a customer appears to be in the middle of a scam event. But those defenses cannot bear the burden alone, especially when criminals deliberately manipulate people into authorizing payments themselves.
That is what makes scams different from many familiar forms of fraud. A criminal may not need to hack an account if they can persuade its rightful owner to send the money. The Government Accountability Office has found that these “fraudulently induced payments” can leave consumers responsible for the loss and that recovery often depends on quickly stopping or freezing the transfer.
When a bank or payment provider evaluates a transaction, it looks for warning signs: Is the receiving account newly created? Is it connected to other suspicious activities? Does the transaction sharply depart from the customer’s normal behavior? Does the identity behind the account match what other reliable information indicates? Responsible data provides those answers.
The consumer may experience the result as a simple question: “Can you tell me more about this transaction before we proceed?” But behind that question is an effort to stop the transfer before the savings disappear.
Fraud Prevention Requires a Wider View
A single bank sees only part of the picture. It knows its own customers and transactions, but a criminal may operate across multiple accounts, institutions and identities. Detecting those patterns often requires reliable information gathered across sources and over time.
That broader view can help institutions spot a fraudulent account before it becomes a destination for stolen money, recognize an account-takeover attempt before access is granted or identify signs that an applicant is using a stolen or fabricated identity.
“This is where responsible data analytics companies play a distinct role. They work alongside banks and other trusted institutions to make relevant information usable at the moment a decision must be made. The mission is specific and time-sensitive: protect the person whose money, account or identity is at risk.”
This is where responsible data analytics companies play a distinct role. They work alongside banks and other trusted institutions to make relevant information usable at the moment a decision must be made. The mission is specific and time-sensitive: protect the person whose money, account or identity is at risk.
Federal regulators increasingly recognize that collaboration matters. In July 2026, the Federal Reserve highlighted new federal guidance encouraging financial institutions to share information that can help identify and prevent financial crime.
Privacy and Protection Must Work Together
The data industry is broad and varied, and policymakers are right to scrutinize how personal information is collected and used. But policy should also distinguish between practices that expose consumers to harm and responsible data use designed to protect them from it.
That means setting strict rules for privacy, security, and accountability while preserving legitimate, specific uses that help prevent fraud and scams. Sweeping restrictions that make it harder to recognize a stolen identity, detect a suspicious account or stop money from reaching a scammer could leave consumers with fewer protections at precisely the wrong moment.
The best fraud story is the one that never becomes a story: the account that was never opened, the transfer that never went through and the savings that never disappeared.
Responsible data helps make those outcomes possible.
