Impersonation scams on the rise: RBFCU warns of increased AI bank fraud
Impersonation scams on the rise: RBFCU warns of increased AI bank fraud
Publish Date: 2026-06-07 21:09:00
Source Domain: www.ksat.com
SAN ANTONIO – Fraud experts are warning about a growing scam, fueled by artificial intelligence, that attempts to steal money and personal information by impersonating family members or legitimate financial institutions.
Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union warned its members that these scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
“We’ve seen a surge in really the more sophisticated impersonation scams where our members are getting calls from what appears to be RBFCU based on the caller ID,” said Brian Munsterteiger, the credit union’s Senior Vice President of Central Operations.
Scammers can manipulate caller ID information to make it appear as though the call is coming from a legitimate phone number, even when it is not.
Victims are often told there is suspicious activity on their account or that their money is at risk, according to fraud experts.
Once trust is established, Munsterteiger said scammers attempt to create a sense of urgency.
“They’re typically validating some type of transaction, which is not a real transaction,” Munsterteiger said. “They’re gaining the member’s trust by, of course, making it seem like it’s coming from the RBFCU phone number and by saying they’re an RBFCU employee.”
In some cases, Musterteiger said victims are persuaded to provide usernames, passwords or one-time security passcodes. In other cases, scammers convince victims to transfer money or withdraw cash and hand it over to a courier under the guise of protecting their funds.
Fraud experts said artificial intelligence is making these scams even more convincing.
“The spoofing that they’re doing, the impersonation that they’re doing, they’re able to use real people’s voices,” Munsterteiger said. “It sounds real. I’ve heard some of these phone calls. They’re very good.”
The warning comes as voice-cloning scams continue to gain attention nationwide.
AI tools can now generate copies of a person’s voice using only a small amount of audio,…
