Allstate's new benefit keeps employees safe from scams

• Key Insight: Learn how employer-sponsored scam protection reframes financial wellness as a digital-security strategy.
• What's at Stake: Rising targeted scams threaten productivity, retention, and employer-sponsored risk exposure.
• Supporting Data: FTC reports $12.5 billion in U.S. fraud losses in 2024.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Employees are falling victim to costly fraud schemes, but Allstate's new benefit helps organizations shield and support their staff.

In 2024, fraudulent activity cost Americans $12.5 billion, according to the latest Federal Trade Commission report, due to sophisticated scams that swindled victims out of thousands of dollars. To help, the insurance provider has introduced a benefit that lets companies both support those who were targeted and prevent others from being next.

"Scam protection is a whole new category," says Caroline Slane, senior vice president of business operations at Allstate Identity Protection. "Traditional identity theft protection has been around for years, mostly focused on credit monitoring and helping people recover from account fraud. But criminals have evolved." 

Read more: Employers boost financial wellness efforts as worker stress rises

Allstate's scam protection benefit includes up to $50,000 in reimbursement for employees impacted by scams and cryptocurrency theft, as well as proactive web and mobile prevention tools that includes alerts and protection against fraudulent texts, emails, links and robocalls. The benefit also extends its coverage to employees' families, which often include more vulnerable groups like teens and seniors. Employees gain access to an Allstate Identity Protection specialist who can help them come up with defense strategies.

Taking a proactive approach can help ease the recovery process, something most identity theft products haven't historically addressed, Slane says. Instead, traditional support mostly focuses on credit monitoring and helping people financially recover from account fraud. The emotional toll is something employers need to confront, too. 

"Every identity theft case drains hours of your time — time spent on the phone with banks and government agencies instead of focusing on work or family," Slane says. "That disruption can have a real emotional impact. We built a feature category that puts money back in people's hands and gives them tools to stay safe."

Fraud schemes are evolving

The challenge leaders are facing is that scammers aren't simply opening accounts in employees' names anymore, Slane says. Instead, they're going straight for employees' money and personal information through more evolved tactics like phishing, social engineering and even cryptocurrency scams like fake investment opportunities. The continued progress of AI has also made significant damage by fueling these ruses with things like deepfake voices and hyper-realistic phishing emails that are almost impossible to spot by even the most trained IT specialist.

Read more: These low-cost benefits help employees de-stress

"These benefits are quickly becoming essential as cybercrime continues to accelerate," Slane says. "Benefit leaders have to start thinking about financial wellness as including digital security."

Already, the insurer has partnered with over 4,000 companies and saved customers approximately $33.2 million last year in potential losses, according to internal data. For employers, offering that kind of dependable security is more than just another supplemental service, according to Slane — it's a powerful retention and recruiting strategy as more and more people are prioritizing financial stability. 

"In today's economy, every dollar matters," Slane says. "Rising costs and financial uncertainty make protecting what [employees have] earned increasingly important. It's a little peace of mind in a world where these scams exist everywhere."