How Fratarcangeli Wealth Management Is Helping High-Net-Worth Clients Guard Against Deepfakes, AI Fraud and Digital Impersonation
AI-driven fraud is no longer a theoretical risk. Voice cloning, digital impersonation and sophisticated phishing schemes are happening daily, and the tactics are getting harder to detect. For high-net-worth individuals and families, the stakes are higher and the targeting is more deliberate.
Jeffrey Fratarcangeli, founder and CEO of Fratarcangeli Wealth Management, says awareness alone is not enough. The defense has to be structural.
Awareness is table stakes, and smart process is the real protection
When asked whether his clients are taking AI fraud seriously, Fratarcangeli was direct: “I don’t know how you couldn’t be aware of it. It is happening every day.”
The people who are most at risk are not necessarily those with the least awareness of fraud-related threats. They are the ones without a process in place to combat such fraud.
At Fratarcangeli Wealth Management, the firm has built multiple layers of verification into any transaction or account activity, and digital communication alone is never sufficient.
“We have deep processes in place for moving money and communicating for any type of activity, with multiple levels and multiple communications,” Fratarcangeli explained. “For example, we need to have verbal confirmation from our clients. It cannot be in email or correspondence in digital form.”
That protocol exists precisely because email and text are the easiest mediums to spoof. When the process is followed, Fratarcangeli said, it becomes much easier to avoid bad actors.
Catching real fraud attempts requires constant vigilance
Fratarcangeli has seen fraud attempts up close. One involved an unauthorized request to withdraw funds from a client account at the firm’s Indiana office. The request did not come from the actual client, and the firm caught it.
Beyond that, phishing attempts arrive regularly via email or text, prompting recipients to click a link or pay a bill. Fratarcangeli’s guidance is unambiguous.
“Do not click these links,” he said. “Instead, contact your financial institution or advisor.”
Practical steps every high-net-worth family should take now
For families looking to harden their defenses, Fratarcangeli points to a few non-negotiables.
The first is locking credit. A frozen credit file means no one can pull a credit report or open new accounts without the account holder first unfreezing it, creating a simple but highly effective barrier.
“No one should be able to pull your credit report without you unfreezing it,” Fratarcangeli said. “Personally, I have locked credit reports for my wife and me. No one can do anything without me unlocking it. I give my clients the same advice.”
Beyond credit, secure communication hygiene matters. At Fratarcangeli Wealth Management, clients are consistently reminded to never include account numbers in standard digital correspondence.
The threat is growing, but so is your wealth managers’ preparedness
Looking ahead, Fratarcangeli expects AI-driven fraud and digital impersonation to become an even more prominent concern over the next two to three years. But the financial industry is already aggressively combating it, and he expects that sense of urgency to continue.
“Fraud risk is something to plan around, not panic over. As these scam attempts become more nuanced and prevalent, the more prepared we’ll be, because we expect them,” he said. “That expectation is itself a form of preparation.”
For more insight from Jeffrey Fratarcangeli, visit www.fratarcangeliwealth.com.
