Fraud is a complex and insidious crime that is growing harder to detect by the day. In the age of social media, fraudsters have access to unprecedented volumes of personal information online – and they are putting this information to work.

“If you look at Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn and other social media avenues, you can see how easy it is to understand people at a level that was never possible before,” said Karen Postma, SVP, product-fraud and contact center, CO-OP Financial Services. “Breaches involving insurance companies, social media sites and email servers send even more detailed information into the hands of fraudsters – and this type of information benefits them tremendously.”

According to Postma, there are several common strategies fraudsters use to access account data – here are five of the most challenging for credit unions to address:

1. Phishing Like a Pro

Social engineering is on the rise, says Postma, and fraudsters are getting better at it. “Phishing has been out there for years, but the way it looks and feels is different today,” she said. “Whether by email, text messaging or phone, in the past fraudsters could be very pushy, tipping people off to their intent.”

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