AI Fuels New, Frighteningly Effective Scams

If the person listening asked questions, AI has the potential to create responses in Hamerstone’s voice that would make sense to the listener.

“It’s unbelievable to see it,” he says. “You cannot tell. It sounds just like the person. … It’s just much more difficult to tell what's real and what’s fake.”

Fighting back — with AI

Governments are scrambling to keep up with the fast-evolving technology. The White House in late 2023 issued an executive order calling for increased federal oversight of AI systems. The technology, it noted, “holds extraordinary potential for both promise and peril.” That led to the establishment of the U.S. AI Safety Institute within the U.S. ­Department of Commerce to “mitigate the risks that come with the development of this generation-defining technology,” as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo put it.

As it turns out, AI may be our best tool for countering the malicious use of AI. 

Benishti’s company develops AI software that detects and prevents large-scale phishing attempts and ransomware attacks. AI also is a key tool for detecting suspicious transactions at your bank, for example, flagging unusual charges on your credit card and blocking scam calls and texts.

Photo illustration: Tyler Comrie (photo: Getty Images)

The problem, says Craig Costigan, CEO of Nice Actimize, a software company that develops technology to detect and prevent financial fraud, is that “most of these scams and frauds are done by folks using the exact same tools as we use — but they don’t have to abide by the rules.”

AI technology also is used to tackle robocalls, says Clayton LiaBraaten, Truecaller’s senior strategic adviser. “If we see phone numbers generating hundreds of thousands of calls in a few short minutes, our models identify these patterns as suspicious. That gives us a very early indication that a bad ­actor is likely behind those calls.”

Truecaller will answer and screen calls for scams and has just unveiled new tech, the AI Call Scanner, which can determine if a caller’s voice is AI-generated. It will warn users while they’re on the phone that the call is suspicious.

Banks use predictive AI as well. Costigan’s company, Nice Actimize, creates AI-based software that financial institutions use to sift through vast amounts of data to detect anomalies in individuals’ patterns, he explains. “It could be that someone is withdrawing $50,000, which is an unusual amount. It could be the location of the IP address. Why is the transaction happening in London?”

What’s possibly more alarming is voice cloning in an industry that for so long has used verbal confirmation to authorize transactions, Costigan says. Criminals “can call up and say, ‘Hi, move this money for me.’ And that voice sounds exactly like you. That’s a problem today.”

Banks are considering going beyond voice confirmation, so “you may also get a single follow-up question, like what’s your favorite color,” Costigan says. “They may now even require something additional that validates that you are you.”

Consumers have a role in protecting themselves, Benishti says, by understanding that “they cannot 100 percent trust communication, especially unsolicited.” Fraud fighters need to be ready to adjust their strategies as scammers are “very astute technologists and accomplished psychologists,” with evolving techniques, LiaBraaten says. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” he says. “We just have to stay ahead of them.”  

How to protect yourself as AI fuels more sophisticated scams

Don’t trust your caller ID. If you get a call from a business, hang up and find the company’s number (for a bank, it will be on your financial statement, for example), then call directly. No matter what the pitch, anyone asking you to pay with a gift card is a scammer, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Pause before you click. Never click on a link in an email or text message without confirming that it’s from a legitimate source. Criminals can craft extremely sophisticated-looking messages, as well as fake websites that convincingly mimic real ones.

Consider choosing a safe word for your family. Share it only with family members or others in your inner circle. If someone calls claiming to be a grandchild, for example, you can ask for the safe word or words — rubber ducky, Fred Flintstone, whatever — and if the caller doesn’t know it, it’s clearly a scam.

Photo illustration: Tyler Comrie (photo: Getty Images)

Call back your “grandchild” in crisis. If you don’t have a safe word and your supposed grandchild or child calls saying there’s a medical emergency or some other crisis (sometimes callers say they’ve been kidnapped), they may add that their phone is broken so you can’t call them. Pause, take a breath (criminals try to rattle you to disrupt your rational thinking), and tell them you want to try to call them back anyway. Chances are your real grandchild will pick up, unharmed and bewildered by your concern.

Don't click on ads to download software. The FTC says that if you see an ad for software that piques your interest, rather than clicking on a link, go to the company’s website by typing in its address. If you search for it online, the agency warns, “remember that scammers also place ads on search engines. They’ll appear at the top of your search results page and might have a label that says ‘Ad’ or ‘Sponsored.’ Scroll past those to get to your search results.”

Guard your personal information. To avoid identity theft, be careful about disclosing your full name, your home address, your Social Security number, credit card and banking information, and other personal details. Definitely don’t share information with someone you only know from email or texting.

Spread the word. Educate your loved ones on the latest scams and the advice above.

Report scams. If you spot a scam or you’ve been a victim of one, report it to the police, as well as the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The more information authorities have, the better they can identify patterns, link cases and ultimately catch the criminals.   

You can also report scams to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360. It’s a free resource, with trained fraud specialists who can provide support and guidance on what to do next and how to avoid scams.