Be a Part of Your Clients' Digital Defense Plan
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Well, that doesn't seem right.
It usually starts with something small. A strange email from a bank your client does not
recognize. A new credit card account they do not remember opening. A password reset link they
never requested. A notice from the IRS that someone has already filed a tax return in their
name.
At first there is confusion. No, there's no way that's right.
Then anxiety sets in. Am I being scammed?
After that, there may be hours or days spent on the phone with banks, credit bureaus, and
government agencies to reach an unsettling conclusion: Someone has my information and is
pretending to be me.
Next comes anger, frustration, and a sense of violation. How could this happen?
Acceptance eventually sets in, along with a determination to never let scammers get the upper
hand again. But sometimes it is too late. The damage has been done - to finances, reputation,
peace of mind, and, sometimes, legacy.
Preventing cybercrimes such as identity theft starts with awareness, including the recognition
that cybersecurity is not just an IT problem anymore. It is a wealth preservation issue that can
affect someone's legacy even after they are gone. And for advisors, that awareness plays a
central role in strengthening clients' digital defenses long before their estates ever reach
administration.
Scammers routinely target estates, executors, and grieving families, often by mining obituaries
and public probate records to launch phishing, impersonation, and identity-theft schemes.
Growing Cyberthreats Can Affect Estate Planning
Consider having "the talk" with clients about cryptocurrencies and their digital estate plan if they
have one. However, that talk is incomplete if it fails to cover the growing risks that their digital
assets - and legacy - face from cybercriminals.
- Seventy-three percent of US adults have experienced some form of online scam or
cyberattack. Most report weekly scam calls, text, and emails.1
- Americans reported 2.6 million fraud cases and 1.1 million identity-theft incidents to the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2024. Losses exceeded $12.5 billion, a 25 percent
increase over the prior year.2
- Identity theft is now one of the most common types of consumer fraud, with nearly 750,000
cases in the first half of 2025 alone.3
- Seventy-six percent of consumers say they feel more anxious about cybersecurity today
than they did two years ago, driven by impersonation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI)
and increasingly sophisticated scams.4
Cybercriminals now use AI-generated voice clones to impersonate loved ones, breached
financial and medical data to answer security questions, and automated scraping of public
records to target people with unnerving precision. Nearly everyone will be targeted at some
point if they have not already been. Even if your clients avoid direct harm during their lifetime,
their estate and heirs may be more vulnerable after their death.
Why Estates Can Be Vulnerable to Cybercriminals
Older adults are particularly vulnerable to online scams and fraud due to their lower digital
literacy and higher accumulated wealth. The FBI reports that in 2024, Americans over the age of
60 were the most frequently targeted group and lost the most money. 5
Fraud schemes targeting the estates of people who have passed away are another area of
growing cybercrime concern.6 As with older adults, estates, particularly those of seniors, are
often perceived as holding substantial assets. The individuals and property involved with estate
administration can also create unique vulnerabilities that attract cybercriminals.
- The decedent's loved ones are often overwhelmed and distracted, making them more
susceptible to realistic-sounding scams. Cybercriminals use times of chaos, confusion, and
heightened emotion to their advantage, preying on feelings such as fear, urgency, and trust
during times when people might let their guard down.
- Executors may be unfamiliar with digital security, making phishing attempts more
successful.
- Multiple parties (attorneys, advisors, banks, beneficiaries) are exchanging sensitive
documents during estate administration, sometimes through unsecured or informal methods.
- The decedent's dormant accounts are often easy entry points for identity theft because they
often go unmonitored, rely on outdated passwords, and may be tied to personal information
that criminals can exploit before anyone realizes there is a problem.
- Scammers routinely impersonate banks, government agencies, attorneys, or even the
executor.
- Probate is public, giving criminals a ready-made list of heirs, contact information, and
sometimes asset details.
Social engineering attacks - scams that use deception rather than technical hacking - that rely
on sophisticated cybertools such as AI to exploit basic human psychology and manipulate
people are on the rise.7 And just as cybercriminals capitalize on natural disasters8 and tech
outages,9 the estate administration process is a scenario that could provide the perfect opening
for fraud and deception.
A Digital Defense Plan for Advisors and Their Clients
Clients count on advisors to help safeguard their wealth. In today's digital world, that includes
protecting against cyberrisks that can compromise traditional and digital assets. Advisors can
meaningfully reduce exposure by addressing the most common vulnerabilities before and during
estate administration.
Issue: Email is the weakest link. Most cyberattacks begin with email.
- Advisor action: Encourage strong passwords, multifactor authentication (MFA), and
encrypted document-sharing platforms. Advise against sending sensitive materials
unprotected and urge your clients to encourage their executors to follow the same security
practices when administering the estate.
Issue: Executors cannot secure what they cannot see. Unknown or dormant accounts
remain open and unmonitored, making them prime targets for takeover and identity theft.
- Advisor action: Help clients build a detailed inventory of important digital accounts and
storage locations. Instead of collecting credentials yourself, have your clients ensure that
their fiduciaries know what accounts must be closed, monitored, or secured.
Issue: Sensitive legal and tax documents are insecurely stored or shared. Wills,
statements, and tax documents often sit unprotected in inboxes or cloud folders.
- Advisor action: Encourage secure online storage using encrypted folders or passwordprotected
vaults, and ensure that fiduciaries know where to find documents and how to
access them.
Issue: Executors may not be prepared for digital threats. Phishing attempts surge during
estate administration, and many executors are unfamiliar with digital-security practices.
- Advisor action:Suggest naming a tech-literate executor (or coexecutor) who is comfortable
managing digital accounts and security protocols. Have clients provide a brief "executor
security checklist" that outlines verification steps (such as confirming account ownership and
access authority) and highlights common red flags such as urgent payment requests,
unexpected account changes, or requests for credentials.
Issue: Probate exposes personal information. Public probate court filings often disclose the
names and contact information of executors and beneficiaries and may even include a list of
assets with their values - information that scammers can easily weaponize.
- Advisor action: Encourage your clients to meet with their estate planning attorney to
discuss whether trust-based planning or other probate-avoidance tools can reduce public
exposure and limit targeted fraud.
Issue: Heirs and beneficiaries are prime targets for impersonation scams. Criminals
impersonate banks, attorneys, courts, or even the executor to solicit money or sensitive data.
For example, a scammer may send an email posing as the estate's bank or attorney, claiming
an urgent problem with an account and requesting immediate payment or login credentials from
a beneficiary or executor.
- Advisor action: Encourage clients and prospects to educate executors and beneficiaries
about common scams10 and establish a simple verification process for unexpected requests.
Issue: Identity theft of the deceased is common. Criminals use a decedent's information to
open credit accounts, redirect mail, or file fraudulent tax returns.
- Advisor action: Provide clients with a postdeath digital checklist: notify credit bureaus,
freeze credit files, and close unused accounts promptly.
Issue: Families may not know what "normal" looks like. Executors and heirs sometimes
cannot distinguish legitimate communications from sophisticated scams.
- Advisor action: Become engaged early in the process. Encourage fiduciaries and heirs to
verify all unexpected communications with you or the estate's attorney before acting.
The Best Defense Is a Good Office Visit
"The best defense is a good offense" is a truism in sports, the military, and the business world.
Advisors and clients cannot confront online fraudsters in their digital hideouts, but they can take
a proactive approach to cybersecurity rooted in awareness, preparation, and avoiding high-risk
situations.
Schedule a time to talk with your clients about their digital defense plan and how you - and
we - can be part of the solution.
MEREDITH | PC
4325 Windsor Centre Trail
Suite 400
Flower Mound Texas 75028
214-513-1013
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as written advice about a Federal tax matter. Readers should consult with their own professional advisors to evaluate or pursue tax, accounting, financial, or legal planning strategies.
You have received this newsletter because I believe you will find its content valuable. Please feel free to Contact Me if you have any questions about this or any matters relating to estate planning.
