ClearSale
The financial sector is filled with opportunity — but also risk. As digital transformation accelerates, cybercriminals are evolving faster than many financial institutions can keep up. From stolen credentials to brand impersonation, fraud is hitting banks, credit unions and fintech companies on multiple fronts.
To defend against these increasingly sophisticated attacks, companies need more than just traditional firewalls and password policies. They need smart, proactive strategies that can catch fraud before it causes serious damage.
The Importance of Cybersecurity to the Financial Sector
A 2024 report from the International Monetary Fund paints a stark picture: More than 20,000 cyberattacks on financial institutions have been reported in recent decades, causing at least $12 billion in global losses. That number has only grown since the pandemic, with incidents more than doubling and indirect costs — like reputational damage and system repairs — soaring.
Even the biggest players aren’t immune. JPMorgan Chase deals with up to 45 billion cyber events per day and spends over $15 million a year on cybersecurity tools. In another high-profile case, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted U.S. Treasury bond trades in late 2023.
What’s clear is this: No matter the size or maturity of the organization, every financial business is a potential target.
The Main Fraud Schemes Affecting Financial Institutions
While the types of fraud continue to multiply, these are three of the most common and persistent threats in the financial sector:
Phishing
Scammers pose as trusted institutions to trick customers into clicking malicious links or providing sensitive information. These attacks are often carried out through fake emails, SMS messages, or even websites designed to look exactly like the real thing. Once the fraudsters get what they need — login credentials, bank info, or card data — they move quickly to drain funds or open unauthorized accounts.
Identity Theft
By gathering personal information through breaches, social engineering, or malware, criminals can assume someone’s identity and commit fraud in their name. This often leads to unauthorized loans, account takeovers or credit card applications — all of which put both customer assets and institutional trust at risk.
Credit Card Fraud
From data breaches to malware, there are countless ways card information can be compromised. Criminals use stolen card numbers to make purchases, create fake cards, or resell the data on dark web forums. These activities often happen well before the cardholder — or the issuing bank — realizes anything’s wrong.
Where Cyber Threat Intelligence and Brand Protection Fit In
To stay ahead of modern fraud tactics, financial institutions need better visibility into how and where threats are forming. That’s exactly where ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence and Brand Protection solutions come into play.
What Cyber Threat Intelligence Does for Financial Firms
ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) platform is built to scan and monitor the same channels fraudsters use to communicate and coordinate. This includes:
- Dark web forums and marketplaces
- Encrypted chat apps like Telegram and Discord
- Open web sources like GitHub or document-sharing platforms
CTI looks for leaked credentials, compromised login pages, suspicious chatter about your brand, and other early indicators of fraud. When something surfaces — like a dump of internal logins or a new phishing campaign — the platform flags it and allows your team to act fast.
Even better, CTI doesn’t stop at alerts. ClearSale’s expert team can investigate threats, uncover who’s behind them, and show you how the fraud was carried out. That’s a powerful tool for prevention and for tightening up your systems before the next attack hits.
Brand Protection: Controlling Your Image and Access Points
Fraud often starts with brand misuse — fake websites, unauthorized banking apps and impersonation on social media. These scams not only mislead your customers, but they also put your institution at risk for legal consequences and loss of public trust.
ClearSale’s Brand Protection platform monitors the open internet for:
- Fraudulent ads and listings
- Imitation websites or portals
- Fake profiles posing as your institution
- Unofficial apps or payment pages
When something is found, ClearSale manages the takedown process. That means less time spent chasing down bad actors — and fewer opportunities for scammers to exploit your name.
OSINT: A Smart Way to Track and Prosecute Fraud
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is one of the most effective — and underused — tools in fighting financial crime. It involves gathering publicly available data from forums, social media, public databases and more to understand how fraud is happening and who’s behind it.
ClearSale integrates OSINT into both CTI and investigative services, allowing institutions to:
- Identify behavior patterns among scammers
- Trace relationships between actors across platforms
- Gather evidence to support legal action or law enforcement referrals
For financial institutions navigating strict compliance standards and increasing regulatory scrutiny, this type of insight can be the difference between staying protected — or being caught off guard.
A Smart Defense Doesn’t Require a Huge Cybersecurity Team
Not every financial institution has a full-time security operations center. That’s why ClearSale’s CTI and Brand Protection tools are built to support lean teams with big responsibilities.
With automated monitoring, real-time alerts, and on-demand access to fraud experts, financial firms can stay protected without building a massive in-house security department.
Fraud in the financial sector isn’t going away — it’s just getting smarter. To stay ahead, institutions need tools that don’t just react to fraud after the fact, but also detect it before it hits.
ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence and Brand Protection solutions give you the visibility, speed and support to do exactly that.
Want to protect your institution from phishing, identity theft and more? Explore ClearSale’s solutions today.
