What Is Account Takeover Fraud and How Can You Prevent It?

What Is Account Takeover Fraud?

Account takeover fraud happens when bad actors use stolen credentials to commandeer real credit card, shopping or even government benefit accounts. Criminals may use ATO to steal money or order goods or services; they may also sell stolen data on the dark web.

Potential targets of account takeover fraud include social media and email accounts, as well as bank, credit card, online shopping or payment accounts.

Learn more: What Is the Dark Web?

How Do Criminals Get Your Account Information?

Criminals use phishing, malware and other methods of identity theft to obtain your account information. They may also buy stolen credentials off the dark web and use them to access your accounts. Here are some of the methods criminals use to gain access to your accounts.

Credential Stuffing

Criminals use stolen credentials to try to access multiple accounts. The rise of machine learning enables bots to attempt logins rapidly and at scale. As a result, credential stuffing and brute force attacks, where bots try random logins and passwords systematically on a single site, are a growing threat.

Data Breaches

A 2025 report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (IRTC) states that the number of reported data breaches reached an all-time high in 2024: 3,322 total compromises, representing 278,827,933 victims notified. Criminals use stolen data to access accounts or sell it on the dark web.

Learn more: What Is a Data Breach?

Phishing

Criminals try to lure you into providing account information, using fake emails, text messages or phone calls, or create phishing sites that look legitimate but aren't. Cybercriminals may buy fake ads that appear as sponsored search results to fool consumers into providing key information.

Deepfake technology is now making it easier to trick victims into believing they're talking to real humans.

Malware

Criminals install malicious code and use it to collect data. Malware may target individual consumers or, commonly, systems at banks, corporations, government agencies or other large enterprises.

Learn more: What to Do if You Are Infected With Malware

Hijacking

Fraudsters use "man in the middle" attacks to intercept messages or data being exchanged between legitimate parties.

What Do Fraudsters Do With Stolen Accounts?

Once they gain access to your account, criminals may do any number of things to cause trouble. They may, for example:

• Order a new card from your credit card company and use it to make purchases
• Buy a new smartphone from your mobile phone carrier
• Access and redeem your account credits or rewards points for their own benefit
• Make a payment to a fraudulent company from your bank account
• Open a new bank account in your name
• Place orders on a shopping or restaurant delivery site
• Redirect unemployment benefits
• Access and steal personally identifiable information
• Change account information, including your phone number, email, home address or login and passwords
• Use the information they obtain to access other accounts
• Sell the account information on the dark web

Learn more: Types of Identity Theft and Fraud

How Can You Protect Yourself From Account Takeover?

Following best practices for reducing the risk of identity theft can help you protect yourself against account takeover. Although many risks are out of your control, such as data breaches that target large companies or government agencies, you can take steps to limit harm from bad actors.

1. Use Multifactor Authentication and Biometrics

Setting up security on your accounts to send a one-time passcode by email or text means fraudsters can't use a stolen password alone to access your account. The same goes for biometric identifiers like face recognition or fingerprints.

Learn more: How to Protect Yourself With Multifactor Authentication

2. Don't Reuse Passwords

Create a unique, secure password for every online account. Using a secure password manager to generate and store passwords across devices makes this job much easier.

3. Don't Click Suspicious Links

Whether links appear in unsolicited emails, text messages or fake ads that accompany your search results, be cautious about clicking on links. When in doubt, you can always seek out products or services separately, instead of using the (possibly tainted) links provided.

4. Safeguard Your Credit

You may want to consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with all three credit bureaus, something you have a right to do even if you haven't fallen victim to account takeover.

With a fraud alert, credit bureaus will instruct creditors to take steps to verify your identity before issuing credit in your name. A credit freeze limits potential creditors (and others) from viewing your credit report and scores unless you deliberately "thaw" your credit information.

5. Consider Identity Theft Protection

Identity theft protection can help you spot issues and take action if you find your information has been compromised. You can get help tracking your identity, accounts and credit file with an Experian premium membership. You can keep close tabs on your credit reports and scores, receive alerts when changes are made to your credit report, get monthly privacy scans, and receive fraud resolution support and insurance to help if your identity is compromised.

Signs Your Account Has Been Hacked

Suspicious activity and notifications are two common signs your account has been hacked. However, even these signs may not be failproof. Often, criminals take the extra step of changing your account preferences so you don't receive notifications that might otherwise tip you off that something is amiss.

Play defense: Pay attention to password change notifications and other account alerts as they come in—before fraudsters have the chance to disable them. If you're notified of activity you don't recognize, look into it right away. Here are a few red flags to watch for:

• Failed login attempts: You may receive notifications about failed attempts to log in to your account. This could be a sign that a bot is attempting to break in. You may also have difficulty logging in yourself, which could be the result of an unauthorized person changing your login information.
• Changes to your account information: If you have trouble logging in to your account, it could be the result of someone changing your login information. Thieves may also change other account or banking information so they can receive withdrawals, refunds or other payments.
• Suspicious account activity: Unauthorized charges, large withdrawals and other unusual activity can all signal problems with your account. Set alerts on your account, if they're available, so you can see what activity is taking place at any time.
• Changes to your credit file: Accounts you never opened, fraudulent loans you (understandably) didn't pay, credit card balances someone else has run up in your name—all of these may show up on your credit reports, hurting your credit scores along the way. To be proactive, you may want to monitor your credit as well as your accounts.

What to Do if Your Account Has Been Hacked

If you discover your account has been hacked, follow these basic steps for dealing with account fraud and identity theft:

• Report the fraud to the bank, company or agency involved. You may need to close your account or upgrade your account security.
• Check your accounts. Assess whether other accounts have been affected, especially if any other accounts use the same login credentials.
• Change your passwords. Update account information for the affected account and any others that may share passwords with it. Better yet, take this opportunity to change and upgrade your passwords across the board.
• File a complaint. You can file a detailed complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Use the keyword "account takeover" in the incident description.
• Consider your credit. If you haven't already, you may want to freeze your credit or add a fraud alert to your credit reports and activate credit monitoring. Experian can help you start the recovery process.

Taking Account of Identity Fraud

Account takeover fraud can damage your finances and your sense of well-being. While there's no iron-clad way of preventing it, you can take steps to limit your vulnerabilities and stop account takeover fraud when it happens. Maintaining strong account security and remaining vigilant are both critical.

If you need help monitoring activity related to your identity and credit, consider identity theft monitoring and protection, available through an Experian premium membership.