Consumers are increasingly falling victim to scams and financial institutions are stepping in to combat the losses. 

In 2024, consumers reported losing more money in investment scams than in any other scam category, according to data from the FTC. Consumers lost $5.7 billion to investment scams in 2024, up 24% from 2023.  

Trinity Bank, UniCredit and Czech bank Ceska sporitelna have signed letters of intent with ThreatMark to use ScamFlag, the tech provider’s gen AI-powered scam detection solution, a ScamFlag spokesperson told Bank Automation News.  

ScamFlag, launched May 21, is integrated into a bank’s mobile banking platform and allows a consumer to take a photo of potentially fraudulent activity or upload a screenshot of materials that could be scams, Michal Tresner, chief executive and founder of ThreatMark, told BAN. The tool instantly tells the user the likelihood that the item is fraudulent, with 99% accuracy. 

ScamFlag monitors for the following types of scams:

• Marketplace; 

• Romance; 

• Business email compromise; and 

• Investment. 

Implementation of ScamFlag followed UniCredit’s May announcement that it entered into a 10-year agreement with Google Cloud to tap the tech giant’s solutions, including its security tech, a UniCredit spokesperson previously told BAN.  

Authorized fraud

Unauthorized fraud is being taken over by authorized fraud, or scams that users are unaware they are committing on behalf of fraudsters.  

For example, a fraudster might impersonate bank staff asking a consumer to transfer funds. 

Authorized fraud makes two-factor authentication, identity verification and geolocation tools almost ineffective because the fraud is perpetrated by a legitimate user, Tresner said. 

“All of these traditional checks are no longer effective, and that’s why a different approach is needed,” he said. 

Integrating tech

ScamFlag integrates directly into a bank’s digital banking channel and has been pre-integrated into digital banking platforms such as Q2, Tresner said.  

Banks, regardless of their digital banking platforms, can also use ThreatMark’s back-end APIs to access the solution, Tresner said.