Skip to Main Content
Doing More Today
  • News
  • Community
    • Associates in Action
    • Community Engagement
    • Small Business
    • Economic Development
  • Insights & Innovation
    • Economic Commentary
    • Insights
    • Innovation
  • Financial Wellness
    • Financial Wellness
    • Fraud Prevention
  • See the Good
    • Culture
    • Good Company
    • Good Towns
    • Good Pets
    • Ecards
    • Recipes
    • Riding Forward
Subscribe Now
Regions Bank

Regions Bank: Doing More Today: Good stories. Better insights. More possibilities.

Share
Share on Facebook
Share on X
Share on LinkedIn
Share via Email
Subscribe
An illustration featuring a computer screen with an AI processor...
Category: Fraud Prevention

Fighting AI Scams as a Team

3 top frauds to look for and how Regions associates use cutting-edge analytics to help protect customers.

By Doug Segrest | February 19, 2025

Generative Artificial Intelligence is the bold new frontier. More commonly known as GenAI, it has been the cause of a lot of recent headlines. Now it’s here.

And criminals have taken note.

“Where I see AI being leveraged more is in the fraud arena, related to scams and social engineering,” said Sue Ross, head of Fraud Prevention at Regions Bank in a recent article for Wealth Insights. “You know, we used to be able to say, ‘Hey, when you see that email, look for misspellings and odd grammar.’”

“Now, that’s become harder for people to detect.”

The reason is generative AI, which learns from computers and people. Scammers combine the newest technology with old-school tricks to try to harm the innocent. So, the attacks are familiar, but the tactics are cutting edge.

Where I see AI being leveraged more is in the fraud arena, related to scams and social engineering.Sue Ross, head of Fraud Prevention at Regions Bank

Top 3 AI Scams

  1. Social engineering – It begins with information gleaned from different sources, including social media. Fraudsters will then use that information to gain a victim’s trust. With AI, the information is gathered at rates never seen before.
  2. Imposter scams – Using AI, fraudsters can create messages that appear to be “from” a trusted legal or financial institution. Or they can create fake audio or video that mimic someone you know, including loved ones. And guess what? They’re in trouble and need your immediate help.
  3. Business email compromise – One of the top scams to always look out for, BEC uses phishing, fake email addresses and imposter actors to gain access to your accounts.

 

Bobby McAuliffe manages a Regions’ Data Products team, including partnering with the Financial Crimes Detection and Prevention to protect the bank and its customers. Meanwhile, Sean Zhang’s team, which develops and supports AI models in this space, builds predictive models that help spot and stop fraudulent activity.

“The thing about AI is that it can generate email to get through all security gates,” McAuliffe said. “These hackers are getting even more sophisticated, and they can use GenAI to produce realistic texts and interactions that appear real to both Regions associates and customers. These are new takes on old tricks, just more efficient, believable, and at previously unachievable scale.”

At Doing More Today, our focus is to help protect customers and the public about ongoing threats. But Regions associates – like Ross, McAuliffe and Zhang – are focused on stopping crimes before they occur.

“A lot of Regions’ focus, beyond the education of clients, is the safeguarding of client assets and making sure there are multiple levels of authentication around the data,” McAuliffe said. “From a cyber standpoint, if people are trying to get through the walls of that security, our experts in Cyber Security make sure we have cutting-edge technology and data protection strategies.”

Generative AI is evolving, and fraudsters are adapting new tricks for old tactics every day. Sean Zhang

For Zhang’s team and Financial Crimes Detection teams, that means 24/7 detecting,  monitoring and searching for anomalies – something out of the ordinary – with the help of AI.

“At a high level, our customer-facing team does jobs that are flexible and accurate in real time,” Zhang said. “Then we learn from patterns to make predictions for future transactions.”

The team is in machine-learning mode every hour of the day.

“This is an ever-evolving practice,” Zhang said. “Generative AI is evolving, and fraudsters are adapting new tricks for old tactics every day.”

From McAuliffe’s perspective, fighting fraud – especially AI scams – “is like an arms race. For example, instead of AI trying to get one person to respond to a fraud attempt they can send out thousands at a time, potentially personalized to each recipient. Banks are trying to safeguard and protect while fraudsters are using new technology for nefarious purposes.”

While Regions and other financial institutions work non-stop to help keep you safe, you can help protect yourself. For example, be wary of what you post online. Using AI, fraudsters can gather very personal information across various platforms in seconds to know you intimately. Then they’ll use that to gain your trust.

“The message to our clients is, ‘These scammers are super sophisticated,’” Ross said. “This may sound simplistic, but protecting yourself is really about getting back to the basics. Verify. Train your employees on what to look for. If you’re a small business, make sure you have a good verification process.”

In the meantime, …

“We’re all working together to make sure we’ve got the latest information on what’s happening in cyberspace,” Ross said.

 

Additional Resources from Regions.com

  • Regions Fraud Prevention
  • Protect Yourself and Your Accounts from Fraud
  • Protect Your Business Against Fraud

 

Related Articles from Doing More Today

  • ‘Fraud Awareness is the Main Defense’
  • 8 Steps to Protect Yourself from Imposter Scams
  • Business Email Compromise: Stop, Call and Confirm

 

The information presented is general in nature and should not be considered, legal, accounting or tax advice. Regions reminds its customers that they should be vigilant about fraud and security and that they are responsible for taking action to protect their computer systems. Fraud prevention requires a continuous review of your policies and practices, as the threat evolves daily. There is no guarantee that all fraudulent transactions will be prevented or that related financial losses will not occur. Visit regions.com/STOPFRAUD or speak with your Banker for further information on how you can help prevent fraud.

 

Share
Share on Facebook
Share on X
Share on LinkedIn
Share via Email
Subscribe

Trending Articles

  • 1.

    Holy Moly! We’ve Got More Good Pets!

  • 2.

    Home is Where the Wealth is

  • 3.

    June 2025 | Economic Commentary

  • 4.

    Best Remedy for Mortgage Fraud: Stop, Call and Confirm

  • 5.

    New Study Rates Regions Bank Tops in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Banks

Related Articles

Elder fraud scam illustration.
Category: Fraud Prevention

Elder Fraud: Five Red Flags

Mortgage fraud illustration of hand holding a house model and...
Category: Fraud Prevention

Best Remedy for Mortgage Fraud: Stop, Call and Confirm

Isabella Crowe, Nicholas Rhoden, Neha Varghese, Stacy Xu
Category: Community Engagement

Congratulations to First Quarter 2025 Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest Winners

A young woman texting on her smartphone while sitting in...
Category: Fraud Prevention

DMV Text Scams: A License to Steal

Shawntelle Fisher, founder and CEO of the SoulFisher Ministries headshot.
Category: Community Engagement

Good for the Soul

Group photo at Mary Lou Schlueter's anniversary celebration.
Category: Culture

Milestone in Mascoutah: Regions Banker Celebrates 60 Years at the Same Branch

Regions Tradition 2025 volunteers.
Category: Culture

Regions Tradition: Volunteering for a Cause

Jeff Taylor, head of Commercial Fraud Forensics at Regions Bank,...
Category: Fraud Prevention

Fraud Fighting in Houston

Regions.com | About Regions | Investor Relations | Privacy & Security | Website Terms of Use | Contact Regions | Careers at Regions
© 2025 Regions Bank Member FDIC |
All Rights Reserved | Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender | Online Privacy