Financial fraud is increasingly a psychological threat, not a technical one. At times of financial stress, banks need to focus more on identifying, supporting and defending vulnerable customers, not just protecting platforms and data. To effectively counter today’s scams, banks need to think beyond detection and toward true prevention. That means equipping fraud and security teams with AI tools that are constantly trained on the latest scam trends and human vulnerabilities, and have the ability not only to detect scams, but also to intervene and prevent them in real-time. New approaches such as AI-powered “scam prevention agents” can be embedded within banking apps to deliver personalized warnings, verify transaction safety, and even simulate real-time conversations that help customers recognize and break free from a scammer’s influence. Same AI agents could also offer post-scam support and remediation for victims, while feeding data from their reports back into the detection and prevention models to protect other customers. Some banks are also experimenting with customer “security scores,” which evaluate risk based on behavioral patterns, transaction histories, and exposure to red-flag scenarios. These scores can trigger proactive communication, before a transaction takes place, offering users context-specific insights or education. Rather than blanket emails about general scam awareness, these systems deliver highly tailored insights and can provide alerts like: “This recipient has been flagged in other scam cases,” or “This transaction appears unusual based on your history.” Institutional alignment is a key part of an organization’s scam prevention strategy. Effective financial institutions are establishing cross-functional “cyber-fraud” fusion teams that bring together fraud prevention, cybersecurity, compliance, and behavioral science. These task forces respond and anticipate scams, building response playbooks and accelerating time-to-intervention. The most effective models also include support from executive leadership, marketing, and customer service, creating a truly enterprise-wide fraud prevention strategy. By integrating advanced analytics, AI-driven risk scoring, and behavioral insights, banking institutions can anticipate and intercept fraudulent schemes before they inflict significant harm. In doing so, they protect not only their bottom line but the essential relationship of trust with their customers.