ARTIFICIAL intelligence is helping cybercriminals create even more convincing scams that can drain your bank account.
We spoke to James McQuiggan, a security awareness expert at KnowBe4, about the rising dangers and how to avoid them.
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“AI is significantly enhancing the sophistication of online scams and social engineering and increasing the sophistication of romance scams and deepfake voice scams.
“With the ability to generate highly realistic and personalized content, scammers can now create convincing deepfake audio recordings in real-time with audio and video from social media sources, all in an attempt to manipulate the audio to deceive their targets into believing they are taking a friend or loved one.
“This action poses a significant challenge for individuals and organizations alike, as traditional methods of detecting fraud may no longer be sufficient in the face of AI-generated scams.
“Cybercriminals are using AI to level up their online attack methods,” McQuiggan told us.
The ability to clone someone’s voice and use it in a phone call scam is now so easy that sophisticated criminals only need about three seconds of audio to do it.
Even a short three-second clip can recreate your voice with 70 percent accuracy, according to specialists at McAfee.
Luckily, there are still some telltale signs to look for when you’re corresponding with an AI scammer.
“Look for unnatural or repetitive language patterns, unusually quick responses, and a lack of understanding or empathy in the conversation.
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“Additionally, asking specific, open-ended questions that require contextual understanding can help reveal whether you’re engaging with a human or an AI.
“The cybercriminals will be responding in real-time or with staged messages.
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“By asking random questions or asking for a predetermined code word, cybercriminals can easily detect that they are using deepfake technologies to attack the victim,” McQuiggan advises.
The expert also flagged deepfake videos as a pressing concern.
“The increase in AI-generated videos is poised to fuel the prevalence of deepfake scams.
“As AI becomes more adept at creating realistic and compelling videos in real time, the potential for malicious actors to exploit this technology for fraudulent purposes grows.
“It presents a pressing concern for individuals and businesses as the risk of falling victim to sophisticated deepfake scams escalates,” he warned.
