Sally’s daughter Emma was holidaying in Bali when Sally received a voice message:
“Mum it’s Emma. I’m in trouble.
Can you urgently put five thousand dollars into my account?
My bank details are…”
Sally recognised Emma’s voice, and knowing that her daughter was overseas, she was very concerned.
Fortunately, for Sally, she’d recently heard about a spate of scam voice messages and was immediately on her guard. She phoned Emma and spoke with her directly, confirming that the voice message was indeed fake – the type known as Vishing.
Vishing is among the new generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) scams doing the rounds, that are so convincing they’re scary.
As AI technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, its innovations are proving valuable across many industries – medicine for example, where its imaging and diagnostic capabilities are literally saving lives.
However, there will always be those who seek to use technology for less honourable purposes, and as our lifestyles become more reliant on online connectivity, we become more exposed to cyber-criminals.
Would you know how to spot an AI scam? Would you know what to do if you did?
This table shows the most common generative AI scams, how they work and what you can do if you think you’ve been targeted.
Notice a common theme?
These scams tend to stress urgency and prey on our fears for loved ones or our desire to trust.
We don’t want to live suspiciously, but we must remember that online crooks have access to the same technology as everyone else, including international policing and anti-crime organisations.
This means that staying ahead of the latest threats is difficult – even if we’ve loaded reputable antivirus software onto our devices.
So where does that leave us?
In a world where faces and voices can be easily faked, we must:
- not click links or act on requests without thoroughly checking the message’s credentials,
- be sceptical – even if a message appears to come from a trusted source,
- verify messages directly with the person or organisation,
- check out the government’s Scamwatch website for the latest information and to log scams we may have identified
- always seek professional financial advice before making any decisions or acting on anything we see online.
And lastly one from me directly. NEVER click on a social media ad….ever. Look it up seperately if you are interested – And consider the above when doing so.
And remember, AI may have intelligence, but it has no ability to be emotional – that’s what sets us apart as humans. So our best protection is our human ability to be cautious, to expect evidence and to question everything!