Cybersecurity for High-Net-Worth Individuals & Families

Here’s something worth understanding: as your financial life becomes more complex, it also becomes a more attractive target for people looking to exploit it.

Unlike the generic, mass phishing attempts that most people have learned to spot, the fraud targeting wealthy families tends to be more deliberate and more personal. The people running these schemes use publicly available information - social media, public records, data breaches - to craft messages that look familiar and feel credible. Understanding how this works is the first step to recognizing it.

We put the following guide together because cybersecurity is a topic that comes up more and more in our conversations with individuals and families - and because a little awareness goes a long way.

Here’s what to know, what to watch for, and what actions to take to protect your financial assets: 

Why Wealthy Individuals & Families Are Targeted Differently

It helps to understand what’s actually motivating these attempts. Generally speaking, people targeting high-net-worth individuals are after one of three things:

• Direct financial theft - wire transfer fraud, investment account takeovers, or moving assets out of custodial accounts
• Identity-based fraud - opening credit, taking out loans, or filing false tax returns in your name
• Leverage - accessing private information to extort, manipulate, or exploit your professional and family relationships

What makes this landscape harder to navigate today is that these attempts have become much more convincing. A fraudulent message doesn’t look like a scam anymore - it looks like a note from your attorney, your CPA, or someone else you work with regularly.

The Threats You're Most Likely to Face

1. Spear Phishing

Unlike generic phishing emails that go to millions of people, spear phishing is personalized. The attacker already knows your name, your financial institution, your advisor's name, or other details about you. The email or message looks credible - and often asks you to verify account information, click a link, or authorize a transaction.

What to watch for:

Urgency, unusual requests, a slightly wrong email address (e.g., @entrustweaIth.com vs. @entrustwp.com), and any request to move money or provide credentials.

2. Wire Transfer Fraud / Business Email Compromise

This is one of the most financially devastating scams targeting affluent families. An attacker impersonates someone you trust - a real estate attorney at closing, a contractor, even your financial advisor - and sends wire instructions to a fraudulent account. By the time the fraud is discovered, the funds are often gone.

What to watch for:

Any last-minute change to wire instructions. Always verify by phone - using a number you already have - before sending funds.

3. Account Takeovers

Your financial accounts can be compromised through stolen passwords (often from other breaches you may not know about), SIM-swapping (where an attacker convinces your carrier to transfer your phone number to a SIM card they control), or direct phishing. Once inside, attackers can drain accounts, change beneficiaries, or create fraudulent transactions.

What to watch for:

Unexpected login alerts, unfamiliar devices listed in your account security settings, or unexplained changes to contact information on your accounts.

4. Elder Financial Exploitation

Older family members are frequently targeted - through grandparent scams, romance scams, fake charity appeals, and situations where someone they trust takes advantage. It’s a sensitive topic, but if you have parents or grandparents with meaningful assets, it’s one worth raising sooner rather than later.

5. Data Breaches

Your personal data is likely already available from breaches at retailers, healthcare providers, and financial institutions over the years. This data fuels more targeted attacks. You can't undo past breaches, but you can limit the damage.

8 Actions to Take Right Now

You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with the first two today - they’ll give you the most meaningful protection in the least amount of time. Then, work through the rest at your own pace. 

1. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) - everywhere

Enable MFA on every financial account, email, and investment platform you use. Opt for an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator or Authy) over text message codes when possible. This single step blocks the vast majority of unauthorized access attempts.

2. Use a password manager

Stop reusing passwords. A password manager like 1Password or Bitwarden creates and stores strong, unique passwords for every account. You only need to remember one.

3. Freeze your credit

A credit freeze at all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) prevents anyone from opening credit in your name - even if they have your Social Security number. It costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes. You can temporarily lift it when you need to apply for credit.

4. Audit who has financial access

Make a list of everyone with access to your accounts - family members, assistants, anyone with power of attorney. Verify that access levels are appropriate and up to date. Remove anyone who no longer needs it.

5. Be skeptical of urgent financial requests

Whether it comes by email, phone, or text - if someone is asking you to move money quickly, verify through a second channel before acting. Call the person directly using a number you already have on file, not one they provided in the message.

6. Review your accounts regularly

Set up alerts on your bank and investment accounts for large transactions. Review statements monthly - even a quick scan can catch something that shouldn't be there.

7. Secure your email

Your email account is the master key to everything else. Use a strong, unique password and MFA (see step 1). Be cautious about clicking links even in emails that appear to be from known senders.

8. Talk to your family about this

Younger family members and elderly relatives are frequent targets - and scammers know that going around you is sometimes easier than going through you. A simple conversation about what to watch for can make a real difference. You don’t need to make it a big event - just share the basics. 

A Note From Our Team

Protecting the financial lives of the families we work with goes beyond investment management - and cybersecurity is increasingly part of that picture. If you’d like to talk through how to strengthen the protections around your accounts specifically, or if something you’ve received recently gave you pause, don’t hesitate to reach out. That’s exactly what we’re here for.