Micro-deposit fraud is an attack strategy that is increasingly affecting financial services and fintech companies. Fraudsters take advantage of micro-deposits issued by online banks, fintechs, and payment companies in the process of account verification. Attackers will create fake accounts at scale to steal the mini deposits (under $1 and as low as $0.02).
While each transfer only costs a few cents, micro-deposit fraud adds up over time causing a plethora of downstream problems such as operational costs dealing with these attacks, increased ACH fees and KYC costs, as well as potential reputational damage. If a customer is a victim of a micro-deposit scam, financial services companies may appear untrustworthy and risk damaging customer relationships.