AUSTIN (KXAN) — As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, people are getting smarter with its use too. AI tools allow bad actors to create realistic messages, clone voices and produce deepfake videos — all to deceive and defraud.
Heather Massey with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) spoke with KXAN about how artificial intelligence is being used to trick people and how to protect yourself.
“Well, AI is awesome, we love our new technology, but they’re also getting really better at the scams,” Massey said.
Massey said one of the most alarming trends is the rise of deepfake videos.
“One of the ones we see happening quite a bit are what we call deep fake. These are the deep fake videos that really take someone that is possibly well known,” Massey said. “I know we had a big celebrity here recently that they did a deep fake, they were in the hospital, they’re reaching out to their fans asking for money, and they were using the people’s names, first and last names. It seemed very believable. These were going out to their instant messages and just really trying to convince them that this person needed their help. They were so good until you really took a deep dive and looked at the video, you realized it was fake.”
But deepfakes aren’t the only concern. AI-assisted fraud now includes a wide range of tactics including: voice cloning, phishing emails and texts, fake customer service chats and romance or investment chats.
“So they’re targeting a lot of people, when you think about it, on social media. We put so much stuff out of there and with AI they can actually go in there and copy your profiles, run them through some of the software and really create likenesses to your face, your voice and even some of the content you have to really personalize those messages, so you think its specifically for you,” Massey said.
To help consumers stay safe, the BBB shared the following tips, also featured in their campaign graphic titled:
Outsmart AI Scams: Stay One Step Ahead
- Pause before you respond
- Verify voices and videos
- Use a family “safe word”
- Don’t click suspicious links
The BBB has more information on its website on how to further protect yourself from AI fraud.
“We offer great tips and tools on there to really go through and help educate us better on AI. While technology is really great, the less we know about it it’s really harder to detect these scams and scammers use that as an opportunity to take advantage of us,” Massey said.
If you or someone you know falls victim to AI-assisted fraud, Massey recommends reporting the incident through the BBB website.
