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Brokerages can reduce AI-enabled fraud by hardening account access, authenticating email, independently verifying high-risk requests, and preparing staff to respond. Generative AI can make impersonation and phishing more convincing and easier to tailor, but the underlying attack paths—stolen credentials, spoofed or compromised email, fraudulent account applications, and manipulated payment instructions—remain familiar. No single tool, including a deepfake detector or security key, covers them all.
FINRA’s January 2025 oversight report describes AI-supported schemes including synthetic identities, account takeover, tailored business email compromise, ransomware, impersonation, and market manipulation. FinCEN’s November 13, 2024 alert reports suspected deepfake media in suspicious activity reports, particularly fraudulent identity documents used to evade verification. Neither source establishes a prevalence rate for brokerage fraud or proves that a particular detection product works. FINRA’s report and FinCEN’s alert describe the threat patterns.
1. Put phishing-resistant MFA on the accounts that matter most
Require multifactor authentication (MFA) for work email, file storage, remote access, administrator accounts, and staff accounts that handle sensitive information. Prioritize phishing-resistant methods where they are supported. CISA’s small-business guidance identifies physical security keys as its strongest listed option and says, “Strong passwords help, but they are no longer enough to keep accounts and systems safe when used alone.” CISA’s MFA guidance explains the options.
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Deploy keys with recovery in mind
Before issuing FIDO security keys, confirm compatibility with the firm’s identity provider, operating systems, browsers, and remote-access tools. Decide how employees enroll, where they can use a key, how lost or damaged keys are revoked, and how access is restored without bypassing identity checks. Store backup keys separately from the primary key and the device it protects. SMS codes may serve as a fallback when necessary, but they are not equivalent to phishing-resistant MFA.
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Check whether the control works
Assign the identity or security team to track enrollment, exceptions, and recovery procedures. Test a lost-key scenario and confirm that staff cannot regain access through an easier, unprotected route. A key strengthens sign-in; it does not prevent fraud carried out through an already compromised mailbox or an approved transfer request.
2. Make firm email harder to spoof—and watch for compromised accounts
Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for every domain the firm uses to send email. Account for legitimate third-party senders, review DMARC reports, and move toward a reject policy as the configuration is validated. These protocols help receiving systems assess whether a message is authorized to use a domain; they do not stop an attacker who sends from a compromised legitimate mailbox.
The FBI recommends strengthening email authentication and malicious-content protections, and CISA’s joint phishing guidance describes how SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can help identify spoofed email. FBI cyber-resilience guidance and CISA’s phishing guidance provide implementation context.
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Include internal-email monitoring
Have the security or IT team monitor for unusual forwarding rules, unexpected login locations or devices, suspicious OAuth app grants, and messages sent from employee accounts at unusual times. Ensure staff can report questionable messages and that someone reviews those reports. Domain authentication addresses lookalike senders; account monitoring addresses misuse of a real one.
3. Verify wire instructions and sensitive changes through a known channel
For wire transfers and other high-impact requests, require staff to call a number already on file or use another independently established contact method. Do not rely on the phone number, link, or reply path included in the request. A familiar voice, plausible writing style, or convincing video is not independent proof of identity. The FBI advises verification through a previously confirmed channel, especially when a contact is new or a request involves money, sensitive information, links, or authentication codes. The FBI’s impersonation alert sets out that advice.
Use dual approval and protect the change process
Require a second authorized person to review high-risk transfers, and define how the firm validates changes to a client’s contact details, recovery credentials, or destination account. For a change request, verify using the pre-existing contact information—not the newly supplied details. The FTC gives phone confirmation of an emailed wire request as an example of an independent check. FTC cybersecurity guidance offers further small-business practices.
4. Train staff around realistic impersonation attempts
Training should teach employees what to do, not just how to spot a suspicious-looking message. Cover email, text, phone, and video requests; urgency and secrecy; credential-reset requests; unexpected links or attachments; and how to report a suspicious interaction. Include people who can approve payments, serve clients, reset accounts, or open accounts, as well as helpdesk staff who may be asked to override normal checks.
Rehearse the handoff
Run realistic exercises that ask employees to pause, verify through an established channel, and report the attempt. Review whether reports reach the right team and whether staff know who can stop a payment or escalate a client-account concern. FINRA advises firms to consider communicating AI-related risks and mitigation steps to employees and customers; the FTC and CISA also recommend training and exercises. FINRA’s report, FTC guidance, and CISA’s phishing guidance address awareness and preparedness.
5. Layer identity checks for onboarding and account recovery
Fraudulent applications and account takeovers can involve synthetic identities, manipulated identity documents, or deepfake media. Use a risk-based review that considers identity evidence alongside account signals and transaction behavior. Give employees a documented escalation route when evidence conflicts, a customer cannot complete a check, or automated results are inconclusive.
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Do not make one signal decisive
A selfie, document scan, or automated liveness result should not be treated as conclusive on its own. Define when a trained reviewer is needed and how to resolve discrepancies without weakening the process through an informal override. FINRA and FinCEN describe these identity-related risks, but their cited materials do not establish comparative performance for specific identity vendors or detection tools. FINRA’s report and FinCEN’s alert provide examples and red flags.
6. Limit what an intruder can reach
Assume that an impersonation attempt or stolen credential may succeed. Use least privilege, reduce standing administrator access, review permissions, and restrict remote access to what each role needs. Patch systems, protect email, and quarantine suspicious attachments and links so a compromised account or device has fewer paths to sensitive data and operations.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.7. Plan how to contain, report, and recover from an incident
Write down who can freeze a transfer or account, preserve relevant evidence, notify compliance and security leads, and contact affected customers through trusted channels. Set escalation routes for suspected fraud and make sure the people expected to use them know how. Maintain recovery plans and exercise them so the firm can restore essential operations after an incident.
Prepare customer and regulatory communications
Decide who assesses whether customers should be notified if the firm or an associated person is being impersonated, and how those customers will be contacted safely. The FTC advises businesses to notify customers when their business is being impersonated and to alert staff. FINRA encourages firms to consider communicating heightened risks and mitigation steps to employees and customers. Covered institutions should also follow applicable Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements; FinCEN’s alert discusses those requirements and relevant red flags. FTC guidance, FINRA’s report, and FinCEN’s alert are useful starting points.
How to assign the work
Each control needs an accountable owner, a documented procedure, and a way to check that it functions. A practical division is for security or IT to own authentication, email protections, access controls, and incident readiness; operations to own transfer verification and account-change procedures; and compliance to coordinate applicable reporting and customer communications. Brokerage leadership should resolve gaps that cross those teams and ensure exercises produce tracked corrective actions.
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