TL;DR
Get smart everyday buys delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
A PYMNTS Intelligence report based on a July 2026 survey found scams accounted for 22.4% of fraud dollars reported by surveyed financial institutions, up from 12% in 2025. The findings point to growing exposure from payments customers approve under manipulation, alongside account takeover, while banks report challenges integrating their fraud tools.
Scams accounted for 22.4% of fraud dollars at surveyed U.S. banks, credit unions and FinTechs, up from 12% in 2025, according to a PYMNTS Intelligence report published October 16. The finding highlights a challenge for financial institutions: a customer may pass login checks and authorize a payment while being deceived about its recipient or purpose.
The report, “Scams Get Personal: Why Banks Pay More to Fight Fraud,” draws on a July 2026 survey of 90 executives at U.S. banks, credit unions and FinTechs. It places scams within a broader shift in the fraud mix: scams and compromised credentials together represented 50.6% of fraud dollars, compared with 27.6% two years earlier. The report does not provide a dollar total for the fraud covered by the survey.
Relationship or trust fraud, in which criminals build rapport with victims before seeking money, reached 12.6% of fraud dollars, more than twice its 6% share in 2025. Separately, account takeover using stolen credentials accounted for 28.2%; the report says that share grew 82%, without specifying in the supplied findings the comparison period for that growth. Physical forgery and counterfeit fraud fell to 6.1%.
The institutions surveyed already report broad use of fraud technology. All said they use tools to analyze behavior, identify devices and verify identity through personal information, while 96% use machine learning and artificial intelligence. Yet 78% cited the complexity of new technology systems as their top barrier to innovation, up from 48% a year earlier. For the coming year, 78% planned to invest in improved customer communication, compared with 41% in the prior survey year.
Why Approved Payments Need More Scrutiny
The findings suggest that checking whether a person can access an account may not be enough to assess whether a payment is safe. In a scam, the account holder may be the person entering valid credentials and approving the transfer, while acting on a criminal’s instructions. That can make warning signs harder to spot through identity checks alone.
For customers, the reported increase matters because deception can lead to a payment that looks authorized in a bank’s systems. The report points to payment circumstances and customer behavior as areas institutions could examine alongside familiar logins and device information. It does not establish that any particular approach will prevent losses, but it identifies a gap between verifying access and understanding why money is moving.
The technology figures also show a practical constraint: many institutions have deployed detection tools, but report difficulty connecting newer systems. If information remains divided across tools, institutions may find it harder to interpret activity as a whole. The survey records executives’ views and planned investment; it does not measure how much any planned changes will reduce fraud.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
A Fraud Mix Shifting Toward Deception
The report compares the 22.4% scam share in 2026 with 12% in 2025, a rise of 10.4 percentage points. It also says the combined share for scams and compromised credentials rose from 27.6% two years earlier to 50.6%. These figures describe shares of fraud dollars, not the number of incidents or the total amount lost.
The changing mix accompanies widespread use of account and behavior checks among respondents. PYMNTS says institutions use methods such as behavioral analysis, device identification and identity verification, and that nearly all also use machine learning or AI. The report frames those tools as a foundation for further work, while its survey responses identify system complexity as a persistent obstacle.
On the customer-facing side, planned investment in communication rose to 78% from 41%. The report also says 86% of institutions using machine learning said it helped them catch problems proactively, compared with 25% in 2025. Those are reported assessments by institutions, not independently measured detection rates.
“Scams and compromised credentials together account for 50.6% of fraud dollars, up from 27.6% two years earlier.”
— PYMNTS Intelligence report
behavior analysis fraud detection tools
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Limits of the Survey Findings
The figures come from 90 executives surveyed in July 2026 and reflect the institutions represented in that sample. The supplied report does not specify a total dollar amount of fraud, a breakdown by institution size, or how representative the respondents are of the wider U.S. financial sector. The shares therefore should not be read as a measure of all U.S. fraud losses.
The report also does not detail the methods used to calculate the fraud-dollar shares, or establish that the planned investments in communication will reduce losses. It gives an 82% growth figure for account takeover but does not state the comparison period in the supplied material. The timing, scale and results of any additional bank defenses remain unknown.
multi-factor authentication devices
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Banks’ Planned Focus for 2027
The next step identified in the report is planned work on customer communication and the integration of existing fraud systems. Most surveyed institutions said improved communication would be an investment priority for the coming year, and the report suggests that combining existing capabilities could help institutions assess payment behavior and context.
The survey does not name specific programs, rollout dates or targets for reducing fraud. Further evidence would be needed to show whether planned changes alter scam losses or detection outcomes. For now, the figures offer a snapshot of institutions’ reported priorities and the fraud patterns they say they face.
customer communication security tools
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What share of fraud dollars did scams represent?
22.4% at the institutions covered by the PYMNTS Intelligence survey, compared with 12% in 2025. The report does not provide a total dollar amount.
Who took part in the survey?
The report is based on a July 2026 survey of 90 executives at U.S. banks, credit unions and FinTechs. The findings describe that survey sample.
The report says the two categories together accounted for 50.6% of fraud dollars, up from 27.6% two years earlier.
What defenses are institutions planning to emphasize?
Improved customer communication was the leading planned investment for the coming year, cited by 78% of surveyed institutions. The report also identifies integrating existing fraud systems as an area for attention.
Does the report show that the planned investments will reduce fraud?
No. It reports institutions’ survey responses and plans, but does not measure the future effect of those investments on fraud losses.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
