Reckless by Design: Why “Industry Norms” Fail the Public Fraud today isn’t just about criminals breaking in — it’s about banks and network providers running fragile systems by design, then shifting the fallout onto customers. With AI supercharging attack speed, scale, and personalization, the old “trust your provider” mindset is dangerous. Be suspicious, double-check everything, and never assume the system has your back. Abstract This brief argues that recurring security failures across finance and telecommunications are not isolated mistakes but the predictable outcome of systems designed with structural fragility and incentives that externalize risk. Institutions frequently meet minimal “industry norms” while maintaining controls known to be ineffective against common threats (ACM Queue, 2020; ITU, 2019). The pattern is evident in documented cases of large-scale consumer harm and market manipulation (CFPB, 2016...