AI hacking scams are on the rise – here’s how to protect your money, points and miles
In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received 2.6 million fraud reports totaling $10 billion lost to scams, the highest annual loss ever reported. Of those reports, the overwhelming majority were imposter scams where a fraudster impersonates a bank’s fraud department, the government, a business, a relative, a love interest or a technical support representative.
As artificial intelligence becomes easier to access and more sophisticated, it is quickly rising through the ranks as an effective way for scammers to gain access to your accounts, draining them of money or points and miles.
The FTC is actively seeking to thwart AI-generated so-called deepfakes by enacting a rule prohibiting the impersonation of individuals. A deepfake is an image or video that has been digitally manipulated using a form of AI called deep learning. This technology allows fraudsters to make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something that never happened.
This would be an extension of an existing rule against impersonating businesses or government officials.
In fact, the FTC issued a consumer alert last year warning people against scammers who use AI to clone a loved one’s voice in an attempt to have you send them money. Not only can they impersonate the voice of someone you know, but they can also use AI to generate fake images to make their story more convincing.
How is AI being used by scammers?
“Someone could impersonate your child’s voice and tell you that they are out of town, lost their phone and need money right away,” Adrianus Warmus, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, told TPG. “They can then use an AI tool to scrape that person’s Facebook or Instagram and create an image that ‘proves’ it’s really them reaching out to you from wherever they say they are,” he explained.
Playing to your emotions is not the only way scammers use AI technology to separate you from your money and travel funds.
Related: How and why you should use a VPN internet connection while traveling
Scammers can also use AI to spoof an email address. “It’s possible to impersonate or take over an email address and use AI to even impersonate someone’s writing style to make it sound convincing,” Jeff Reich,…