AI used against you
Scammers use AI too. As a result, their messages, phone calls and even video calls are much harder to spot than they used to be.
- check_circle How scammers use AI to deceive you
- check_circle Why a familiar voice or face is no longer proof
- check_circle The habit that works: verifying through a second channel
Four tricks to know
- Phishing without spelling mistakes. Fake emails and text messages can be flawlessly written and refer to real colleagues or projects.
- Cloned voices. With a few seconds of recording, AI can produce a voice message from “your boss” urgently asking for a payment.
- Deepfake video calls. A Deepfake Image, video or audio created or edited with AI, so that someone appears to say or do something that never happened. of your director or a regular supplier, who looks and sounds like the real person.
- Fake AI apps and extensions. Free “AI assistants” for your browser or phone that, depending on their access, can read along with your emails, web pages or other data.
Spelling mistakes can still be a warning sign. Their absence does not prove that a message is genuine: AI can produce convincing, flawless phishing. Also look at the sender, the links and what is being asked.
Verify through a second channel
Is someone asking for something unusual or urgent, such as a payment, a new account number, passwords or sensitive files? Then verify it through another channel that you choose yourself:
- call the person on the number you already know, not the number in the message;
- or check with a colleague who can confirm it.
Also, do not install AI apps or browser extensions that are not on your organisation’s list.
You can practise spotting phishing thoroughly in our separate course Recognising phishing.
An urgent voice message
What do you do?
First verify through a second channel. Voices are easy to clone. Replying to the same message does not help: then you are talking to the scammer again. Call your managing director on the number you already know.
What you take away from module 6
- bolt Scammers use AI for flawless phishing, cloned voices and deepfake video.
- bolt A familiar voice or a familiar face does not, in itself, prove that a request is genuine.
- bolt With an unusual or urgent request, you verify through a second channel that you choose yourself.
- bolt Do not install AI apps or extensions that are not on your organisation's list.
Module 6 complete 🎉
You now recognise the scammers’ new tricks. In module 7 you will learn what to do if something does go wrong, and how to request a new AI tool.
On your way to the “Using AI safely” practice quiz
Complete all 8 modules and try the free practice quiz. The official exam with a certificate is in the GDPRWise app.