Don’t be duped by a scam made with artificial intelligence tools this holiday season. The FBI issued a public service announcement earlier this month, warning criminals are exploiting AI to run bigger frauds in more believable ways.
While AI tools can be helpful in our personal and professional lives, they can also be used against us, said Shaila Rana, a professor at Purdue Global who teaches cybersecurity. “AlI tools are]becoming cheaper and easier to use. It’s lowering the barrier of entry for attackers so scammers can create really highly convincing scams.”
There are some best practices for protecting yourself against scams in general, but with the rise of generative AI, here are five specific tips to consider.
Beware of sophisticated phishing attacks
The most common AI-enabled scams are phishing attacks, according to Eman El-Sheikh, associate vice president of the Center for Cybersecurity at the University of West Florida. Phishing is when bad actors attempt to obtain sensitive information to commit crimes or fraud. “Scammers are using generative AI to create content that looks or seems authentic but in fact is not,” said El-Sheikh.
However, you should still check for subtle tells that an email or text message could be fraudulent. Check for misspellings in the domain name of email addresses and look for variations in the logo of the company. “It’s very important to pay attention to those details,” said El-Sheikh.
Lock down your social media accounts
“Social media accounts can be copied or screen scraped,” warned Bruemmer. To prevent impersonation, reduce your digital footprint. “Set social media accounts to private, remove phone numbers from public profiles. And just be careful and limit what personal information you share publicly,” said Sana. Leaving your social media profiles public “makes it easier for scammers to get a better picture of who you are, and they can use that against you,” she said.
Be wary of photos and videos prompting you to send money
The FBI warns generative AI tools have been used to create images of natural disasters and global conflict in an attempt to secure donations for fraudulent charities. They have also been used to create deepfake images or videos of famous people promoting investment schemes and non-existent or counterfeit products.
When you come across a photo or video prompting you to spend money, use caution before engaging. Look for common telltale signs that a piece of media could be a deepfake. As Shannon Bond reported for NPR in 2023, when it comes to creating photos, AI generators “can struggle with creating realistic hands, teeth and accessories like glasses and jewelry.” AI-generated videos often have tells of their own, “like slight mismatches between sound and motion and distorted mouths. They often lack facial expressions or subtle body movements that real people make,” Bond wrote.
“It’s very important for all of us to be responsible in a digital AI-enabled world and do that on a daily basis … especially now around the holidays when there’s an uptick in such crimes and scams,” said El-Sheikh.