LAWYERS REMAIN HIGH-VALUE TARGETS IN EVOLVING FRAUD LANDSCAPE

Prevention and preparation are critical as fraud losses climb

The fraud landscape is constantly changing, but lawyers will always remain high-value targets, an expert warned Florida Bar members at the Bar Convention in Orlando.

“My call to action for everyone here today is to really be an advocate, tell your friends and colleagues that it’s not a matter of if you’ll be a victim of fraud, it’s a matter of when and to what scale.”

Tim Jakubowski, an attorney banking consultant and assistant vice president for M&T Bank, presented the June 17 Member Benefits Committee seminar, “Understanding the Complex Fraud Landscape & Prevention Strategies.”

Data compiled by the Federal Trade Commission shows that the fraud challenge continues to grow, Jakubowski said.

“The FTC reported $15.9 billion in fraud losses in 2025 alone, which is up from $12.5 billion in 2024, significantly higher and still a crazy, crazy number,” Jakubowski said.

Fraudsters target law firms because they have sizeable trust funds and collect the most valuable data, he said.

“Depending on the type of practice, you’re taking on personal identification information, financials, and sometimes some law firms are financial intermediaries, and that’s very attractive to fraudsters.”

Much of the growth is fueled by “FaaS,” or “Fraud as a Service,” a dark web business model where cybercriminals commercialize their expertise, Jakubowski said.

“Fraud as a service is where fraudsters are selling tools and services to other fraudsters, and they’re lowering that bar for entry by basically replicating a way for fraudsters to hack or steal information.”

Stolen Social Security numbers are so common they typically sell for only a few dollars on the dark web, he said.

“What’s more difficult to obtain or replicate is a passport, that’s actually going to be a few thousand dollars,” he said.

Despite all of the attention AI is generating, mail/check fraud remains the source of the biggest dollar losses.

“Most people are surprised to hear that,” he said.

A stolen or diverted check can be easily altered and contains valuable account and routing numbers, Jakubowski noted.

In the digital sphere, the most common form of fraud, 90%, involves a “phishing” email that lures a victim into opening a link contaminated with malware, he said.

The infection typically lurks in a victim’s IT system for weeks or months —  the average period is 251 days — before the fraudsters steal information or funds, he said.

“On average, victims were defrauded $125,000 per business email compromise, they’re 80 times higher than losses suffered from other types of attacks.”

Law firms should conduct background checks on new hires, train employees to recognize phishing attacks, and restrict access to sensitive data based on a team member’s need to know, he said.

Fraudsters can gain easy access to a law firm’s IT system when managers forget to deactivate the account of a team member who leaves, he said.

“It’s very, very, important that monitoring his happening, you’re doing the proper background checks for your teams to make sure that funds aren’t maliciously stolen, or information isn’t stolen, I see it happen all the time.”

CLE Course No. 9768 is approved by The Florida Bar for 1 hour General, and 1 hour Technology.