Improving Fraud Alert Engagement

Most of us receive our fair share of fraud alerts. Whether it’s a text from a bank reporting unusual credit card activity or an email highlighting suspicious account login attempts, these alerts should spur us into action. We should jump at the opportunity to safeguard our information, monitor our accounts more closely, freeze our credit cards, or report fraud to our financial institutions. In reality, we often ignore or dismiss these alerts, leaving us vulnerable to significant losses.

While most people report reading fraud warnings, the majority fail to take action.¹ For financial institutions and organizations involved in fraud prevention, the core challenge isn’t delivering fraud alerts to consumers, but motivating them to pause, pay attention, and respond. Users are increasingly tuning out impersonal, high-friction warnings that disrupt the user experience and lack personal relevance, especially in the face of growing alert fatigue.

This isn’t to say that current fraud prevention approaches are ineffective. Awareness campaigns promoting proactive education remain highly effective at reducing fraud risk for consumers; equipping consumers with knowledge is one of the best ways to reduce victimization.² However, there’s still more we can do to prompt immediate action when consumers receive a fraud alert—often the final line of defense against loss. With a blend of behavioral science and technology, we can ensure these warnings are attention-grabbing and personally relevant, without burdening users with unnecessary complexity or friction. In this article, we’ll break down some of the key behavioral barriers prompting users to swipe away warnings and explore some emerging opportunities to redefine fraud prevention for better consumer engagement.