Scam of the day – December 13, 2024 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Artificial Intelligence

by | Dec 12, 2024 | Scam of the day

“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is a classic  1967 Western movie that starred a young Clint Eastwood.  It also can describe the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on scams due to the fact that it can be “good” and helpful in defending against scams, but it also very much can be both “bad” and “ugly”  because it can be readily used by even unsophisticated scammers to make their scams more convincing.

Let’s start with the good.  Ai can be used to detect unusual transaction patterns in banking and spending activities. It is also used extensively by credit card companies to flag and even block suspicious purchases.  AI also can be used to recognize phishing emails and smishing text messages and block them. In regard to robocalls AI is used by services such as Nomorobo and Truecaller to block robocalls.

However, AI has also proven to be a tool for even unsophisticated scammers to perpetrate very sophisticated and convincing scams.  The FBI recently issued a Public Service Announcement in which it warned about criminal use of AI to facilitate scams. https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA241203

Among the scams, they warn people about are scams which we have been warning you about here at Scamicide for years including scammers using AI to create believable phishing emails and text messages that correct grammar and spelling errors that often appeared in phishing emails and text messages sent by scammers in foreign countries; using AI to construct sophisticated counterfeit websites of online retailers; using voice cloning to make the family emergency or grandparent scam more believable; using AI deepfake technology to create videos of public figures to enhance scams and many, many more.

TIPS

So how do you protect yourself from AI enhanced scams.  It starts with my motto, “trust me, you can trust anyone.”  Certainly you should install security software on all of your electronic devices and install updates as soon as they are available. But even the best security software will be at least a month behind the latest scams exploiting “zero day defects” which are software vulnerabilities not previously discovered.  Therefore remember whenever you get a phone call, text message or email asking for personal information, a payment or to click on a link you should be skeptical.  B.S. Be skeptical.  Never respond to any such communication until you have independently confirmed that it is legitimate. To protect yourself further from family emergency scams, create a safe word that everyone in the family knows to verify your identity in the event of an emergency.

As for phony websites, AI has made them easy to construct.  The Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report is a terrific free service where you can type in the URL and learn if Google’s research indicates the website is a fake.  Here is a link to it. https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search

You can also use Whois.com which is a free service that will tell you who owns a particular URL and how long it has been in service.  If your Walmart website has only been around six months and is owned by someone in Nigeria, it certainly is a scam.  Here is a link to Whois  https://whois.domaintools.com/
These are a few of the basic steps everyone should take to protect themselves from scams and identity theft.  Subscribing to Scamicide is also a good idea because each day you will get new helpful information about the latest scams and identity theft threats as well as how to protect yourself from them. And let your friends know about Scamicide too. If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive  free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”