Florida Banking June/July 2026

The Fraud You Don’t See Coming How AI is changing risk, and what a proactive approach means for community banks SHAZAM

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behavior, emerging patterns and how those patterns affect each institution’s unique customer base. For community banks, the challenge— and the opportunity—is to strengthen fraud strategies in ways that keep pace with change while preserving the relationship driven experience accountholders expect. AI-powered fraud is the top risk community banks face In 2026, industry research has reached a sobering consensus: cyber-enabled fraud has surpassed every other operational risk facing financial institutions. According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, U.S. consumers and businesses lost $20.8 billion to cyber enabled fraud in a single year, a 26% increase over 2024. For the first time in the report’s history, AI-facilitated scams were tracked as a distinct category, accounting for more than $893 million in losses. Community banks are not insulated from these trends. In fact, they’re more exposed. The 2025 CSBS Annual Survey of Community Banks identified cybersecurity—including debit card fraud and AI-driven scams—as the most pressing internal risk reported by community bankers nationwide. At the executive level, concern is equally high. The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 found that cyber-enabled fraud overtook ransomware as the leading concern among global CEOs, with nearly three-quarters of organizations directly affected in 2025 alone. Fraud today is faster, cheaper and more convincing than ever. Criminals use

Fraud is no longer a distant or abstract risk aimed only at global financial institutions. It’s personal, local and accelerating. From deepfake voice scams to AI-generated phishing messages that convincingly mimic trusted community members, fraudsters are using technology to bypass legacy controls and exploit human trust at scale. For community banks, this shift is reshaping the risk environment. While they remain the first line of defense for their accountholders, staying ahead of AI-driven threats now requires more advanced, adaptive protection to keep everyday transactions secure. Effective fraud prevention is no longer just about responding when something goes wrong. It’s about understanding how fraud behavior evolves and building defenses that can evolve just as quickly. Understanding the changing nature of fraud Fraud today rarely looks like the obvious threats of the past. It’s increasingly automated, coordinated and designed to blend in with legitimate activity. Artificial intelligence allows fraudsters to scale highly convincing scams, generate synthetic identities and continuously test controls until they uncover weak spots. These efforts are persistent and adaptive, shifting tactics as soon as defenses respond. As a result, fraudulent transactions can move through traditional, rules based systems without triggering alarms. Addressing this challenge requires more than isolated tools or static thresholds. It demands ongoing insight into transaction

In 2026, industry research has reached a sobering consensus: cyber enabled fraud has surpassed every other operational risk facing financial institutions.”

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