Fraud Forum Blog

Booking a vacation rental online should be exciting — not stressful. Yet every year, travelers lose thousands of dollars to fraudulent listings, fake hosts, and too-good-to-be-true deals. The good news? With a few smart precautions, you can easily spot red flags and book your dream getaway safely. Here’s how to protect yourself from vacation rental scams: Stick to Trusted Platforms Always use reputable booking websites like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, or Expedia . These platforms offer secure ...

Every year on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) highlights a crisis that often goes unnoticed until the damage is done. While elder abuse can take many forms—physical, emotional, and neglect—financial exploitation remains the most prevalent and fastest-growing. For banks and credit unions, this is not only a social issue; it is a matter of risk management, regulatory compliance, and customer trust. As trusted stewards of consumers’ money, financial institutions are uniquely ...

Passwords are the tiny, unsung superheroes of your digital life. They guard your money, your messages, your health records, and yes, even those late-night social media scrolls. Yet we often treat them like afterthoughts, reusing the same ones or forgetting them entirely. World Password Day, celebrated the first Thursday in May , is the perfect reminder to give these digital defenders the attention they deserve and make sure they’re up to the challenge. A Brief History Passwords have been around ...

Every April during Financial Literacy Month we celebrate National Teach Children to Save Day . It’s a time to help young people understand the value of money. But in today’s world, that also means teaching them how to protect it. As a payments professional and a parent of a 7-year-old, I know that teaching kids to save is about much more than piggy banks and dollar bills. It’s about preparing them for a digital world where money moves fast, and where fraudsters move even faster. ...

March 1 - 7 is National Consumer Protection Week , a nationwide initiative focused on fraud awareness and prevention sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission. 2026 is the 28 th year of the FTC joining with partner organizations to amplify the importance of consumer protection. During this time, I want to spotlight the growing threat of wire transfer scams and their increasing impact on our industry. Payments have always been my passion, and wires were among the first responsibilities I ...

Romance scams are among the costliest fraud threats facing consumers today. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people reported more than $800 million lost to romance scams in 2024, reflecting both emotional and financial harm. For financial institutions, these scams create unique challenges—and opportunities to intervene before money is gone for good. March will be here before we know it, and along with it Fraud Prevention Month and National Consumer Protection Week , so now ...