How AI is helping scammers get your information
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Artificial intelligence isn't new, but there are renewed concerns about cybercriminals using the technology to trick unsuspecting individuals.
"We call it SAP -- scale, accuracy and plausibility," Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Center for AI Crime, said. "So you imagine every kind of cybercrime, scam or fraud that you've ever seen before, it’s going to be at a much greater scale, it will be much more accurate, and it'll claim more victims because they'll be much more plausible.”
O'Farrell called Better Call 4 nearly one year ago to share those concerns. Now, the FBI has issued a similar warning to consumers:
"...criminals exploit generative artificial intelligence (AI) to commit fraud on a larger scale which increases the believability of their schemes," adding that it assists "with content creation" and "reduces the time and effort criminals must expend to deceive their targets."
In total, the FBI identified 17 common tactics scammers use -- with the help of AI -- to con consumers, including deepfakes -- images, videos, even phone calls.
"When we first started seeing these scams come out, you needed about five minutes of a person's voice," O'Farrell said. "In fact, some of the original ones were 15 minutes. Now, it's down to three seconds. So, bop, bop, bop, might be enough for a scammer to replicate your voice."
Then, O'Farrell said, scammers use your voice to manipulate others in order to make money. They may also create fake social media profiles, send phishing emails, create misinformation campaigns around politics, or exploit a crisis, like hurricanes or wildfires.
No matter the tactic, the goal is always the same -- to get your personal and financial information. If you encounter a text message, phone call, email or social media message -- even from someone you think you know -- O'Farrell suggested asking yourself a few questions first.
"Has that ever happened before?” he said. “Is it quite typical? Does the personality feel the same? The voice in the image might, might look familiar, but does the personality? Do they, do they normally greet you with that particular name or have they left out something? So, it has to be all about the context and typically with these scams, a key telltale is urgency. Take a breath. Take a moment. Double check."