AARP-Backed Bill Targets AI Deepfake Scams

American consumers lost a reported $10 billion to scams and fraud last year, and artificial intelligence is making it even easier for criminals to steal people’s money.

Concern is especially high in the financial industry, where scammers can use deepfake technology — AI-generated audio and video — to impersonate people and hack into bank accounts. 

To help tackle the problem, AARP last week endorsed the bipartisan Preventing Deep Fakes Scams Act. The bill would establish a dedicated federal task force to examine the positive and negative impacts of AI on the financial services industry. 

The panel would include industry representatives, AI experts and others. It would be charged with examining how criminals use AI in financial scams and how the industry can leverage the technology to better detect fraud and stay ahead of scammers.

“Artificial intelligence will only become more advanced and widely available, so our policies must keep up,” said U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) when introducing the bill last year with U.S. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.). 

AARP Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Bill Sweeney, in a July 25 endorsement letter, called the measure “a crucial step towards safeguarding consumers in the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and financial services.”

Protecting older adults from fraud remains a top priority for AARP. This year, AARP joined White House officials and industry leaders for a meeting aimed at helping the federal government fight the use of AI-enabled voice cloning to commit fraud.

Read our letter and keep up with our coverage of scams and fraud. For more on how to protect yourself, visit AARP Fraud Watch Network’s website. If you’ve been targeted by a scam, call our Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 for support.