ClearSale
The financial sector is one of the most targeted industries for fraud — and for good reason. With vast amounts of sensitive data, high transaction volumes and complex operational systems, financial institutions present attractive opportunities for criminals looking to exploit vulnerabilities.
ClearSale recently made a major breakthrough by helping uncover and shut down a fraudulent account-opening scheme at a major Latin American bank. This case highlights how Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is redefining the way financial institutions prevent, investigate and respond to fraud.
Let’s explore the common threats faced by financial institutions and how ClearSale’s solutions offer an edge in protecting against them.
Fraud Schemes Most Commonly Faced by Financial Institutions
Financial institutions must constantly defend themselves against a wide range of fraud attempts that threaten customer security and operational integrity. Below are the most prevalent and damaging types of fraud seen in the financial industry today.
Phishing and Social Engineering
Criminals send fake emails and SMS messages or create fraudulent websites that appear to come from trusted institutions. The goal is to trick customers into revealing account credentials, credit card numbers, or other personal information. Social engineering scams often target employees as well, attempting to manipulate them into bypassing internal security protocols.
Credit Card Fraud
Stolen or cloned cards are used to conduct unauthorized online purchases or ATM withdrawals. Criminals may also employ skimming devices installed on ATMs or POS terminals to capture cardholder data, which is later used or sold on the dark web. This type of fraud results in direct monetary losses and increased chargeback rates.
Loan Fraud
In this increasingly common scheme, fraudsters submit falsified documents to obtain loans, credit lines or mortgages under fake or stolen identities. These scams exploit weaknesses in onboarding and identity verification processes, leading to financial losses and regulatory scrutiny.
Identity Theft
By gaining access to personal data through phishing or data breaches, scammers can impersonate individuals to open accounts, apply for credit, or conduct unauthorized financial transactions. Identity theft not only creates financial damage — it also undermines customer trust in the institution’s ability to safeguard their data.
Wire Transfer Fraud
This high-impact scheme involves altering payment instructions or falsifying authorization details to redirect large sums to fraudulent accounts. These scams are often carried out through business email compromise (BEC) or insider threats and can result in significant financial and reputational loss.
Insurance Fraud
Whether through false claims, forged documents or inflated damages, insurance fraud is a costly issue for financial service providers. This type of fraud can involve both external criminals and internal actors manipulating data for personal gain.
Opening Fraudulent Bank Accounts
A notable case recently involved one of the largest banks in Brazil and Latin America, which faced a complex scheme involving the creation of fake accounts. What made the case more alarming was the participation of internal branch managers, who unknowingly or deliberately enabled the scam.
ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) solution was key in identifying the scheme and shutting it down. Using advanced open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools, CTI analysts were able to:
- Map out how the fraudsters gained access and exploited the account-opening process
- Identify the fraud ring's communication channels and digital footprints
- Uncover key vulnerabilities in onboarding workflows
- Trace connections between criminal actors through their digital behavior
Through proactive threat monitoring and targeted investigation, the fraudulent accounts were located and blocked, and the suspected criminals were handed over to authorities. The financial institution not only eliminated an active threat but also implemented systemic changes to prevent similar schemes in the future.
Threat Intelligence in the Battle Against Fraud
CTI goes far beyond traditional fraud detection systems. While many tools focus on monitoring internal transaction data, CTI broadens the scope — scanning external environments where threats originate and evolve.
How ClearSale's CTI Works
- Real-time monitoring across surface, deep and dark web: Identifies stolen credentials, leaked customer data and phishing sites impersonating the institution.
- Credential leak detection: Scans for employee and customer logins being shared or sold in cybercriminal forums.
- Fraud ring analysis: Tracks coordinated activity across forums and messaging apps (e.g., Telegram, Discord) to uncover emerging attack patterns.
- Actionable alerts: Provides security and fraud teams with context-rich notifications tied to real-world risk events.
ClearSale’s CTI platform is powered by both automation and human expertise. This hybrid model ensures high detection accuracy while allowing expert analysts to investigate complex fraud networks, attribute behavior to specific actors and support the development of proactive risk strategies.
Why Brand Protection Matters for Financial Institutions
While CTI helps detect deep-rooted fraud activity, ClearSale’s Brand Protection platform defends financial institutions from impersonation and reputation-based attacks.
This solution continuously scans for:
- Fake banking apps or websites mimicking your brand
- Phishing pages designed to harvest login credentials
- Unauthorized use of your brand on social media or digital ads
- Marketplace or app store listings claiming affiliation with your institution
When a threat is found, ClearSale initiates a takedown request — handling the process with hosting platforms and providers. This prevents customer confusion, safeguards your brand image, and reduces the risk of customers falling victim to impersonation scams.
Together, CTI and Brand Protection help financial organizations stay ahead of attackers — by understanding how they operate and eliminating the channels they use to deceive.
From Detection to Defense: Why the Financial Sector Needs CTI Now
Fraud is growing more advanced, and financial institutions can no longer rely on reactive tools alone. They need visibility into external digital environments; early threat detection; and fast, coordinated response capabilities.
ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence provides just that — helping institutions:
- Stay ahead of phishing campaigns, credential leaks and internal exploitation
- Eliminate impersonation threats before customers are affected
- Investigate and disrupt coordinated fraud activity
- Strengthen compliance posture and reduce regulatory risk
In the high-stakes financial ecosystem, real-time threat intelligence isn’t just an upgrade — it’s a necessity.
Explore how ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence can help your institution prevent fraud, protect your customers and stay compliant.
