The FBI on Tuesday warned of a sharp increase in bank account takeover fraud schemes, with cybercriminals impersonating financial institutions to steal more than $262 million since the start of 2025.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the agency has received over 5,100 complaints this year from individuals, businesses, and organizations across multiple industries.
In these schemes, criminals use social engineering tactics or fake websites to gain unauthorized access to online bank accounts, payroll systems, or health savings accounts.
Once in control, officials said they often wire funds to cryptocurrency wallets, making recovery extremely difficult. Many victims also find their account passwords changed, locking them out entirely.
“Once the impersonators have access and control of the accounts, the cyber criminals quickly wire funds to other criminal-controlled accounts, many of which are linked to cryptocurrency wallets; therefore, funds are disbursed quickly and are difficult to trace and recover,” the FBI said in a public service announcement.
The FBI recommends monitoring accounts closely, using unique and complex passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and accessing banking sites via bookmarks rather than search engine links to avoid phishing scams.
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