How AI is changing online fraud

Online fraud is becoming more sophisticated by the minute, making it harder to distinguish legitimate offers or messages from people you trust from a potential scam. Scammers are embracing widely available Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and using them to get you to send money or share personal information for financial gain and/or identity theft.

“The scams aren’t necessarily different; they’re the same type of scams,” says Octavia Howell, vice-president and chief information security officer with Equifax Canada. But now fraudsters can instantaneously “scrape” social media and the web for information about an intended victim, create a profile of them, and craft a pitch likely to catch their attention and provoke a hasty response.

Say you’re a fan of a singer, scammers send you an email or text announcing a new “virtual tour,” urging you to click for a free pass. The old “spray and pray” tactic of blasting out countless messages in the hopes a few people bite is fading. AI now allows scammers to target individuals with tailored, highly convincing messaging that often looks polished and legitimate, and, as Howell says, “the likelihood of someone falling for the scam is greater.”

How to spot an AI scam

Many of the red flags we once relied on—like misspellings, odd email addresses or suspicious URLs—are often absent today. Today we are dealing with polished and sophisticated messaging which makes it more important than ever to spot the subtler clues:

The message relates to something you didn’t initiate. If you didn’t enter a contest to win a car, free trip, or inquire about duct cleaning services (for example), the message should raise suspicion. To confirm its legitimacy, verify the message  by contacting the organization directly using a publicly listed phone number or email address, not the link in the message. The same applies to messages from people you know: reach out using the contact details you already have to confirm they actually sent it.

The tone of the message feels off. The invitation looks too formal for a casual event or too relaxed for something more official. “AI is not human, so it is important to look for anything  that feels off or artificial,” Howell says. 

The message calls for immediate action. “The urgency is still there,” Howell says of the new breed of AI-assisted scams.

The offer is literally unbelievable. “If it sounds too good to be true, it’s likely too good to be true,” she adds.

The URL looks off. Hover over the URL (but don’t click!), and notice if anything is off such as added characters at the end of a familiar domain name. Domain spoofing makes URL addresses look like that of a genuine organization.

Help prevent online crime

The Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition, a group of 48 organizations that includes Equifax, urges Canadians to always “Stop. Check. Talk” before dealing with any suspicious messages. Never rush to respond, verify whether the request is legitimate, and if you conclude it isn’t, report the fraud attempt to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. The organization has a new website specifically to facilitate reporting of scams.

If you discover you’ve been impacted by a scam, it’s doubly important to report it. “The best thing you can do is report it so that the public can know about it,” Howell says. “If you don’t, then it will happen to others.”

Reassurance for your life online

For an extra layer of security against AI-enabled scams and other forms of fraud, consider subscribing to a protection service such as Equifax Complete Protection. This digital service, starting at $34.95 per month, monitors changes in your Equifax credit report, manages your passwords, protects devices, deploys a VPN for data encryption, helps restore your identity in case of identity theft and more.

“Equifax Complete Protection can help protect you and your family from fraud before it happens,” Howell says, “as well as protecting with monitoring and recovery if you are targeted.”

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About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.