Top 5 cybersecurity risks to your finances

From AI-powered impersonation to fraudulent ads on social media, cybercriminals are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to access accounts, steal sensitive information and move money. In fact, Canadians lost over $704 million to reported fraud in 2025, driven largely by investment and identity fraud, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, high-net-worth individuals and their families are becoming increasingly attractive targets. Understanding today’s biggest cybersecurity and fraud risks can help you recognize vulnerabilities and take steps to protect your finances.

Here are five common risks.

 

1. The deepfake threat

Cybercriminals are moving beyond simple scam emails or phone calls. According to CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity provider, AI-enabled attacks jumped 89% year over year in 2025. Rapid advances in AI allow criminals to generate realistic text, images, audio and video that can convincingly impersonate family members, business associates and trusted institutions. A scammer, for example, might use AI-generated audio to mimic a loved one’s voice or create a convincing fake message about a family emergency, with an urgent request for money.

It’s not just family members. Fraudsters are also impersonating other organizations. Victims may receive official-looking brochures, emails or marketing materials that appear to come from a trusted institution but are actually part of a sophisticated phishing scam.

Identifying this type of fraud is becoming harder as technology advances, you can’t try to “spot the deepfake” by looking or listening for certain cues. Traditional red flags, such as spelling mistakes or poor grammar, are becoming less reliable indicators of fraud. That’s because AI can help criminals create professional-looking communications that closely resemble legitimate ones, making scams easier to produce and harder to detect.

How to protect yourself: Never trust voice alone even if it sounds like a family member, a government official, or an executive. Treat the combination of urgency + secrecy + money as a huge indication of potential fraud. If you receive an urgent request involving money or sensitive information, hang up and verify it through a trusted phone number or communication channel before acting. Consider creating a “safe word” for family or investment professionals so you can validate that they are who they are.

 

2. Scams in your social feeds

Do you ever find yourself scrolling social media and seeing an ad that seems to offer a great investment opportunity or an unbeatable deal? Cybercriminals frequently use social media platforms and popular websites to promote fake products and fraudulent investment schemes. In 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission found that people reported $2.1 billion in losses from social media scams in 2025 alone.

Some of these ads, for example, may use AI-generated or manipulated images and videos – known as deepfakes – to try to build credibility. They may feature a familiar brand, a well-known business leader, public figure or celebrity. For example, you might see a video that appears to show a bank executive announcing an exclusive new investment product promising unusually high returns. The video may look and sound convincing, but the person may never have made the statement.

If you come across sponsored links or videos promoting investment opportunities or unusually steep discounts, avoid clicking. Instead, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre recommends visiting a company’s official website and shopping only with reputable brands.

How to protect yourself: Use this fraud prevention checklist if you suspect you might be responding to a scam. You should also treat social media advertising as untrusted and never take investment advice from a social media relationship. Before responding to an investment promotion or online offer, visit the organization’s official website directly and speak with your advisor rather than clicking links in ads or social media posts.

 

3. Your digital footprint

Publicly available information can help cybercriminals craft highly personalized scams, impersonate trusted contacts and identify potential leverage points. Social media posts, philanthropy announcements, board appointments, business interests and family activities can reveal a person’s interests, relationships and routines.

Be mindful of what you share publicly and regularly review your digital footprint by doing a quick search of your name or scanning your social feeds. Is there information about you, like your home address, your personal email address or travel habits, easily accessible? Even seemingly harmless information can give attackers the context they need to make a fraudulent message more convincing – or target you through your professional or personal relationships.

How to protect yourself: Regularly review the personal information available about you online and consider limiting details that could help criminals tailor convincing scams.

 

4. Account takeovers

One way criminals break into financial accounts isn’t by attacking the bank itself. Instead, they steal credentials and walk through the virtual front door. Using credentials obtained through data breaches, phishing emails and other scams, cybercriminals try to access accounts without raising suspicion. Once inside, they may change contact information, transfer funds or lock you out by changing your password.

While passwords can be frustrating to manage, using a unique password for every account is one of the most effective ways to prevent account takeovers. If one account is compromised, a unique password can stop criminals from accessing others. Pairing strong passwords with multi-factor authentication adds another layer of protection, helping keep fraudsters out even if they obtain your login credentials.

How to protect yourself: Use phishing resistant multifactor authentication (MFA) such as passkeys and hardware security keys for you most sensitive accounts. Use unique passwords for every important account, a password manager and multi-factor authentication can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized account access. Take new-device and password-reset reports seriously by taking time to ensure it isn’t an account takeover attempt. If an ATO has occurred, lock your accounts, change credentials, contact your financial institution, and report to law enforcement and government officials.

 

5. Targeting your family and network

Because affluent individuals are often alert to potential threats, cybercriminals increasingly target the people around them instead. Family members, household staff, assistants, accountants and other trusted contacts can become alternative pathways into a family’s finances and sensitive information.

Fraudsters use social media and other publicly available information to map relationships, identify potential vulnerabilities and tailor their approach. Different members of a household may face different threats. Older relatives are often targeted through impersonation and relationship-based scams, while working-age adults may encounter fake business opportunities or investment schemes. Younger family members can be vulnerable to extortion, gaming-platform scams and AI-generated image fraud.

The common thread is trust. Rather than attacking financial accounts directly, criminals often target the people around them, exploiting personal relationships to obtain information, authorize transactions or bypass established safeguards.

How to protect yourself: Create an understand of risks and mitigations around cybersecurity, physical/executive/elder/young family member protection, privacy and digital exposure, travel security, reputation management, and response. Also know that these risks can converge in that a cyber issue can become fraud and a potential physical security risk. Consider a policy of “no single person should be able to initiate or complete a large financial transaction.” Map access to staffs, wealth managers, accountants, attorneys, private bankers, investment managers, and other important people. Establish clear and secure verification procedures so sensitive requests can be independently confirmed before action is taken.

 

Bottom line

Being aware of cybersecurity threats is an important part of protecting personal wealth, especially as technology evolves and tactics become more sophisticated. For high-net-worth individuals and families who may be particularly vulnerable, reducing risk starts with understanding how attackers can use technology, publicly available information and trusted relationships to access financial accounts or sensitive information.

While it's impossible to eliminate every cyber risk, understanding today’s threat landscape can help reduce your exposure and better protect your finances.

For more information, be sure to check out the BMO Learning centre for the latest security threats and what you can do to protect yourself.

 

 

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