Mike

Anvil

The phone rings on a Saturday. The voice on the line sounds exactly like your CEO, and he needs a wire transfer done right away.
A few years ago, that call might have raised suspicion. Today, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/artificial-intelligence" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">artificial intelligence</a> can clone a voice, write a convincing message and build a phishing link that looks entirely genuine.&nbsp;
Mike Stawchansky, chief technology officer at <a href="https://www.finastra.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Finastra</a>, says the hard truth is that many of these <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/scams" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">scams</a> can no longer be caught by the people they target.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/policy/sen-hagerty-hints-u-s-could-add-to-its-bitcoin-reserve-very-soon" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Sen. Hagerty hints U.S. could add to its Bitcoin reserve ‘very soon’</a>
<blockquote>
 “You can’t detect them in some instances,” Stawchansky told TheStreet Roundtable in an exclusive interview. “Some of them are so good that your end user will not be able to distinguish.”
</blockquote>
Finastra builds software that banks and other financial institutions run on, covering lending, payments and core banking systems.&nbsp;
Its customers range from community banks and credit unions to large global lenders and fintech firms.
Stawchansky is responsible for the company’s technology strategy, overseeing product development, security, infrastructure and data.&nbsp;
He brings more than 25 years of experience building technology systems, including nearly eight years at Salesforce.
<h2 id="a-20-billion-fraud-problem">A $20 billion fraud problem</h2>
The threat Stawchansky describes is showing up in the numbers.
Americans reported more than $20.8 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, according to the agency’s <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">latest annual report</a>.&nbsp;
That’s up 26% from 2024. The center received more than 1 million complaints during the year.
The report also tracked AI directly for the first time under a dedicated label. Complaints tied to artificial intelligence numbered 22,364, with losses of about $893 million.
Some of the most damaging schemes are the impersonation scams Stawchansky warns about.
Business email compromise, where criminals pose as executives, vendors or partners to redirect payments, cost victims more than $3 billion in 2025. That’s up from about $2.8 billion a year earlier.
Losses from scammers posing as government officials nearly doubled, to about $798 million from roughly $406 million.&nbsp;
Separately, fraudsters posing as bank support staff took over victims’ accounts in about 4,700 cases, costing roughly $360 million.
<h3 id="trending-on-thestreet-roundtable">Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:</h3>
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<h2 id="process-over-detection">Process over detection</h2>
For banks managing trillions of dollars, Stawchansky said the answer isn’t a perfect detection tool. It’s discipline.
<blockquote>
 “You have to come back and rely on the processes you have in place,” he said.
</blockquote>
That means no single employee should be able to move money on the strength of one phone call, however convincing it sounds.
<blockquote>
 “You can’t have a process that allows for any person in the company to receive a call from the CEO on the weekend and say, I need this transfer done immediately, and have that one person enact on it,” Stawchansky said.
</blockquote>
He said he recently discussed the issue on a panel at another industry event. While technical solutions exist, he argued that firms must “get the basics down” first.
“Make it so that it takes two people to sign off,” he said.
He also urged staff to pause and question the request itself.&nbsp;
<blockquote>
 “Why would my CFO be asking me to wire money? Why would a customer be saying that they didn’t get this wire when we know they did?” he said. “Really go back to your normal processes.”
</blockquote>
<h2 id="two-habits-for-everyday-savers">Two habits for everyday savers</h2>
Individuals can borrow from the same playbook, Stawchansky said, starting with two-factor authentication, or 2FA.&nbsp;
This security step requires a second proof of identity, such as a code sent to your phone, on top of a password.
<blockquote>
 “Those 2FA processes are the big ones,” he said. The key is making sure the second factor is “something that you are the only person that has control over.”
</blockquote>
His second rule is even simpler: never trust an incoming call from someone claiming to be your bank.
<blockquote>
 “Don’t ever take an inbound call from a bank or somebody purporting to be a bank,” he said. “Go back to the contact information you have.”
</blockquote>
The <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/fbi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FBI</a> offers similar advice. It urges people to turn on multi-factor authentication wherever possible and to contact their financial institution immediately if they spot a fraudulent transfer.
Stawchansky believes those two habits alone, locking accounts with 2FA and refusing inbound bank calls, can eliminate 90% to 95% of the risk people face today.
<h2 id="the-roundtable-100">The Roundtable 100</h2>
If you follow our market coverage, don’t miss the <a href="https://roundtable100.com/tab/rankings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Roundtable 100</a>. Updated every Friday, it's a power ranking of the 100 most investable tech stocks, including digital assets. Check out the latest <a href="https://roundtable100.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">RTB 100</a> rankings at <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">roundtable100.com</a>
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/investing/billionaire-stanley-druckenmiller-reveals-his-next-investment" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller reveals his next investment</a>

Finastra CTO Mike Stawchansky says some AI scams can’t be detected

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