SKN | Bank of America Expands Fraud Protection for Small Businesses as Cybercrime Losses Rise

Key Takeaways:

• Bank of America is expanding its fraud-awareness program for small business owners with new educational tools, prevention resources and webinars.
• The bank has updated its Fraud Prevention Checklist to help businesses identify vulnerabilities and strengthen internal controls.
• BofA is adding education on social engineering and Business Email Compromise as fraudsters increasingly exploit trust, urgency and human behavior.
• The initiative extends the bank’s role beyond transaction services by helping business clients strengthen operational and account security.

Bank of America is expanding its fraud-prevention resources for small business owners as increasingly sophisticated scams create greater operational and financial risks. The initiative strengthens the bank’s support for entrepreneurs through practical education, vulnerability assessments and tools designed to help businesses respond before fraud becomes a material financial event.

BofA Expands Its Fraud-Prevention Toolkit

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Bank of America is highlighting a broader range of resources through the Center for Business Empowerment’s Security Center. The bank has introduced an updated Fraud Prevention Checklist that enables business owners to assess vulnerabilities and strengthen internal controls.

The bank is also expanding educational content focused on common warning signs associated with fraud, scams and social engineering. The approach reflects BofA’s assessment that technology alone is insufficient when criminals target employees through manipulation and trusted business relationships.

Social Engineering Becomes a Core Client Risk

BofA Business Banking President Sharon Miller emphasized that fraudsters increasingly exploit trust, urgency and human behavior. That makes employee awareness and internal procedures an important component of a business’s overall security framework.

The bank is therefore preparing a new webinar on Social Engineering and Business Email Compromise, scheduled for later this fall. The program is intended to help business owners and employees identify common fraud tactics and reduce the likelihood of falling victim to increasingly sophisticated schemes.

Bank of America Connects Education With Account Security

The initiative extends beyond publicly available educational material. BofA clients can also access additional resources, including CashPro webinars and a Security Meter designed to help businesses assess and improve account security.

That layered approach is strategically relevant to the bank because small businesses often operate with fewer dedicated cybersecurity resources than larger corporations. By embedding fraud education and security assessment into its client offering, BofA can help strengthen defenses around the accounts and payment activity that underpin its business banking relationships.

Why Fraud Prevention Matters to BofA’s Business Banking Strategy

The scale of the underlying threat reinforces the importance of the initiative. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, reported U.S. internet crime losses reached $20.8 billion in 2025, up 26% from the previous year. Business Email Compromise alone accounted for more than $3 billion in reported losses.

For Bank of America, the response is therefore not simply an educational exercise. Stronger client awareness can support risk mitigation, account protection and relationship resilience across its small-business franchise. With 30% of business owners surveyed in BofA’s 2025 Business Owner Report planning to increase cybersecurity measures over the next five years, the bank is positioning its security resources alongside an increasingly important client priority.

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