How to avoid AI scams – December 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is like any tool; it’s only constructive if used correctly. So far, AI shows a lot of promise for good in the future, however, there’s a lot of destructive potential as well. One example would be scams. Knowing how to avoid AI scams is an increasingly important skill to have nowadays.

So, with AI scams on the rise, how do you identify and avoid them? Well, this is what we’re going to discuss in this article. We will go over some skills you should learn to keep you, your data, and your finances safe online.

What are AI scams?

Scams have existed on the internet for years, but AI-generated scams are a relatively new concept. These are scams that people can quickly create using AI tools to develop websites, advertising copy, and images.

Like other scams, AI scams have the intent to steal information from you. It will attempt to gather information like your email address, contacts, phone number, home address, banking credentials, or other information.

With data like this, they can wreak all sorts of havoc. For instance, scammers can steal your contacts, and send phishing emails/calls to your contacts to send them to malicious websites that will steal their information. Other scams will bring you to malicious websites that will hack your computer, steal your information, and break into any accounts that you have. This is just to name a few of the terrible scams that are out there.

How to avoid AI scams

When it comes to identifying AI scams, this task is getting harder as time goes on. One thing you want to look for is an obvious AI-generated image. Identifying AI-generated images is an important skill all its own.

Check for AI-generated images

Look for the classic towels in an AI-generated image like uncanny facial features, finer details that disappear into nothingness, and let’s not forget those good old janky hands. Now, if you spot an AI-generated image in an advertisement, that’s not a surefire tell pointing to it being a scam. However, this will press you to look further.

Check the company website

If you see an advertisement from a company, check out the company’s website. If it does not have a website, then that might be a red flag. Check the company’s social media pages if there’s no website.

If the company does have a website, look through it and make sure that it’s well-made. The sad fact about this is that there are entire AI-generated websites. So, if a company is using AI to make the images and advertising copy for its scam, then there’s a chance that it will use the technology to make its website as well.

Read the text very carefully, look at all the images, go through all the pages, etc. Look for any aspects that don’t seem like an actual human made them. For the time being, there are some tells that let you know that a website is AI-generated.

Check the company’s age

Next, try and find out how old the company is. Sure, brand-new companies can be legitimate. However, if you are spotting clearly AI-generated content, and the company is only a few months old, that can be a major red flag. It’s best to trust companies that have a track record.

Look at the links/email addresses

Not all AI scams are masked as original companies. There are some scammers who masquerade as existing companies with a well-established track record. You’re more likely to trust Amazon or Google than you are to trust a new and obscure company.

This next step isn’t only for AI scams; it could be applied to all types of scams. Scammers will use email addresses and URLs that are similar to those of legitimate companies. They’ll do whatever they can to make them look like they’re from the actual companies. Maybe a name is spelled using a zero rather than the letter “O”. Maybe it will use an abbreviation of the company’s name.

In any case, if you receive an email from a company asking you to go to a specific site, you’ll want to check the email address and make sure that it matches up with emails you would get from that company.

The only emails you will get from Google will have “@google.com” at the end. It will not be any different. The only emails from Amazon you will get will have “@amazon” at the end. If you see any differences, then you should not trust that email or text message.

Also, most companies will not ask you to send payment or banking information through text, email, or phone calls. If they ask you for that, then it’s most likely a scam.

Research the company

If you checked everything above, and you still have your doubts, then make sure you research the company. Do a quick online search on the company and see what turns up. If the company is a bad egg, then you will definitely see information pointing to it.

There are tons of websites that delve into and review companies to let you know if they are legitimate or not. Make sure you read several reviews on the company. Obviously, if you see a bunch of websites saying that the company is a scam, then you’ll want to pass it up.

This also applies to telephone scams

AI voice cloning technology gets thieve’s mouths watering because it gives them something that they’ve wanted all along. It gives them the ability to seamlessly emulate a person’s voice over the phone. Because of this, unlucky folks get worrying calls from family members claiming to be kidnapped and held for ransom. However, in reality, the voice they hear on the other end is completely fake.

If you randomly get a call from a family member claiming to be in trouble, and they’re asking you to send thousands of dollars in crypto, don’t act so fast. The number calling you won’t be that person’s number. Call the family member in question to make sure that they’re okay first. Also, call other family members or friends who will most likely be around them and make sure. If that family member is fine and well, then you can disregard that call.

Obviously, if you hear a family member saying that they’ve been kidnapped or are in danger, you don’t want to take it lightly. Take the proper steps to make sure that they’re okay before you disregard the call.

PSA

It’s extremely important to know how to identify and avoid AI scams. Artificial intelligence is becoming more intelligent, and human beings must too. Clicking on the wrong link, downloading the wrong file, or putting information into the wrong website can turn your world upside down. Taking a minute to check for the tells of an AI scam can help you avoid all of that.