The fact is while AI can help organizations and consumers make faster and more informed decisions, cybercriminals are targeting the same organizations and consumers with AI related malware, fake domains, deepfakes, and synthetic identity theft. Welcome to impersonation scams using AI and the rise of this criminal activity.
This has resulted in bad actors impersonating (impersonation scams) individuals on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace along with scammers impersonating your bank or credit union and asking customers or members to validate their account information with their password, PIN, one-time code, or other login information.
The challenge for consumers and businesses is that scammers are sending out millions of phishing emails and texts every day that look just like your bank, credit union, social media accounts, and marketplace platforms – and three things are happening:
Consumers are deleting legitimate emails and texts from their banks and credit unions (along with other legitimate organizations) to mitigate their exposure to potential phishing email and text scams. Consumers are unsure of the legitimacy of emails and texts from organizations they have an established relationship, and this is not good for those organizations who depend on digital engagement strategies with their customers and members.
Consumers are being fooled (and scammed) by cyber criminals using AI created emails and texts (using the digital footprints of consumers against consumers) that look just like legitimate emails and texts from their banks, credit unions and other organizations.
Legitimate organizations are having a difficult time with digital security as emerging and sophisticated threats from cybercriminals continue to evolve with the use of AI technology.
To make matters worse – this June 29, 2024 article titled The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1B stolen records and rising by TechCrunch states that “we’re over halfway through 2024, and already this year we have seen some of the biggest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. And just when you think that some of these hacks can’t get any worse, they do.”
“From huge stores of customers’ personal information getting scraped, stolen and posted online, to reams of medical data covering most people in the United States getting stolen, the worst data breaches of 2024 to date have already surpassed at least 1 billion stolen records and rising. These breaches not only affect the individuals whose data was irretrievably exposed, but also embolden the criminals who profit from their malicious cyberattacks,” writes Zach Whittaker, the security editor at TechCrunch.
To conclude, bad actors are using AI technology to target consumers with AI related malware, fake domains, deepfakes, and synthetic identity theft to commit money making scams. Bad actors are also using AI related malware and deepfake technology to hack and breach the data bases of some of the largest companies in the U.S.
It’s time for the good guys to use AI technology to create a new solution to help protect consumers and businesses from being scammed!
Learn more on scam detection and prevention!
Originally published with permission by Mark Pribish
