AI Payments Scams: How to Detect Them and Tips for Protection

In the past, consumers could rely on certain tell-tale signs to warn them about a potential scam. For example, scammers with limited English skills were easy to spot because their messages often contained grammatical mistakes and misspelled words.

Nowadays, it’s much more difficult to detect a scam simply on language and grammar – Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has enabled scammers to scour the internet for information and use it to create personalized messages for each target. With AI, scammers can create fake but realistic videos, impersonate someone’s voice over the phone, create bogus websites, and write compelling emails. So how do you protect yourself and your loved ones against AI scams? Continue reading for important tips and answers to common questions about AI payment scams.

What Are “Deepfakes” and How Do Scammers Use Them?

Deepfakes are images, videos, or audio that AI generates that are made to look and sound like a real person. They are sometimes used to spread misinformation. A deepfake might also make it look like a public figure is endorsing a product or an investment opportunity. Other times, they’re used to trick people into giving away personal information, transfer funds into a scammer’s account, or grant access to their computers, servers, and bank and credit card accounts.

What Are the Most Common Types of AI Scams?

Scams using AI involve someone impersonating an individual or a business with whom you have a relationship. They might claim to be one of your relatives, your boss, or anyone you do business with. Scammers will also impersonate politicians and celebrities to trick people into giving away their money by pretending to be collecting donations for social or political campaigns. Political scams are often a huge problem during election years.

Voice Cloning and Impersonation

With just a small audio sample of someone’s voice, AI can generate a voice that matches the person’s tone in speaking style. They might pretend to be:

• Your boss or a business associate, telling you to transfer money.
• A relative, claiming to need money for ransom, bail, or some other emergency.
• A celebrity, offering an investment opportunity or trying to convince you to contribute to a nonexistent charity.

Deep Fake Videos

AI-generated videos will simulate real people, such as a politician or a celebrity, promoting a bogus “investment” scam. These are typically posted on social media, or used in advertisements online, with a link to a website that collects your personal information and asks you to send money.

Deepfake Video Calls

Scammers create a phony AI persona that they use in video chats or calls. These are often used in romance scams, where fraudsters pretend to be in a relationship with someone and ask them for money.

Deep Fake Images

AI-created images are posted on social media, with links to scam websites. In some cases, scammers have created deepfake and compromising images of people that they use to extort their victims.

AI-Generated Phishing Emails

AI has allowed phishing scams to become much more sophisticated while avoiding the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that made them easy to spot in the past.

Scammers use AI to create authentic-looking emails used to trick someone into downloading spyware or malware on their computer, to transfer funds, or to give away their personal information such as usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, and financial account numbers.

AI Created Websites

Scammers create an online store offering merchandise at a steep discount from regular stores. These are often limited time “act now” offers to get people to act. The merchandise may or may not be real, or could be of low quality with no way to return it. Instead, scammers will take people’s payment information and use it to make fraudulent purchases. Scammers will also create websites with bogus real estate listings as a way of getting people’s payment information.

Impersonation Scams

These could involve text messages, emails, or voice calls. Scammers will pretend to be from your bank, your credit card company, or the government. Their goal is to trick you into making a payment, giving away personal information, or granting access to your bank and credit card accounts.

What Are Some Real-World Examples of AI Scams?

These are just a few examples of actual scams fraudsters have used in recent years, although many victims fail to report being scammed. They may be embarrassed about getting conned and they figure they won’t get their money back anyway. In 2024, three Canadian men lost $373,000 after they fell for a deepfake video online that made it look like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was promoting a cryptocurrency investment.

Also in 2024, a woman in West Virginia received an email that appeared to be from her realtor, telling her to transfer $255,000 for a down payment on a house she was getting ready to buy. She unknowingly transferred the money to a scammer.

In 2019, the CEO of a British energy company was tricked into transferring 220,000 British pounds to a scammer who used AI to impersonate the head of the CEO’s parent company over the phone.

AI Scam Prevention Tips

There are many ways to avoid AI scams, and it all starts with taking a skeptical view of someone who wants you to transfer money, reveal private information, or give them access to your accounts. It means going beyond what we think of as regular Internet safety.

This is especially true if someone pressures you to act immediately. This is a common tactic of scammers. They want you to act before you have time to think about it. If you’re pressured to act immediately, that could mean someone is trying to scam you.

If you ever feel rushed into deciding this, stop and think about the request. Do a little research to figure out if the person contacting you is legitimate.

Scammers also like to prey on people’s emotions. One common tactic among scammers is to pretend to be someone’s relative who needs emergency financial help. If something like this happens, write down the caller’s number and any information they’ll give you.

You should also compare the number that this person called you from and see if it matches the actual number for this person. You could also contact other relatives, to check that the request is legitimate. Here are some additional ways to avoid AI scams.

Create a “Safe Word” or Phrase

Scammers can use AI and the Internet to impersonate a friend or family member, and the results can be convincing. Try creating a word or phrase that you only share with those close to you, so it’s easy to verify if the person contacting you is legitimate.

This should be something that would be hard for anyone outside your circle to know about and would be next to impossible for an AI bot to find out online. Your safe words might refer to a family trip, a bit of family history, or a joke you’ve shared among friends.

Use Strong Passwords and Two Factor Authentication

Most people know better than to use something like “password123,” etc. but many people do use passwords that are easy to guess—especially for an AI bot that has scoured the Internet for information about you.

A password should be at least 12 characters. It should also include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid using the names of family members, pets, or your mailing address.

You might consider using a password manager, so you have just one password to remember. It would create complicated passwords for all your accounts and store them in a vault.

It’s also a good idea to use two-factor authentication. This is especially important to have two-factor authentication for your password manager to keep it as secure as possible.

With two-factor authentication, you will receive a special code via email or text before logging on to various accounts. There are also authentication apps that you can install on your phone and link to your accounts. This way, you would have to approve access to any of your accounts that are linked to the app.

Verify All Calls, Emails, and Texts

If someone calls you to access your accounts, transfer money, or give them personal information (such as a Social Security or account number) you should take the time to verify that the call is legitimate—even if the caller sounds like someone you know.

For example, if someone claims to be from your bank or your credit card you can write down their information and phone number. You should also take note of the number that appears on your caller ID.

Take the time to verify whether this is a real number. You could do an Internet search for the number they provided or look up the contact information for the institution they claim to represent.

You could take the same approach to verifying email and text messages. If someone claims to be from your credit card company, you could use the number on the back of your card to call and verify the information.

If someone calls, claiming to be your boss, a friend, or a family member, and they want you to transfer money or give away personal information, ask them questions that only that person would know.

Don’t Click on Links and Attachments

Whether a link or attachment is sent via email, text, or social media, don’t click on anything until you’ve verified that the message is authentic and from someone you know. On a computer, you can hover your mouse over a link to see where it would take you. If the message is in an email, look at the sender’s email address. A scammer might use a slightly different version of a legitimate email address to fool their victims. If the message is via text, make sure it’s a number you recognize.

Even if you regularly receive notifications about your social media posts, it’s a good idea to remain cautious. For example, a scammer might send a mass email that pretends to be from a popular social media site. It could say something like “People are reacting to your post” or “Click here to see people’s comments.” These kinds of emails are routine for many people with social media accounts, which is why scammers like to use them. Instead of clicking on an email link, you could go directly to the social media site on your own and avoid the risk of clicking on a fraudulent link.

Watch out for Deep Fakes

As convincing as deepfakes are becoming, there are clues to watch for in figuring out whether something is real or fake. Take a close look at faces, limbs, and shadows. Compare the light and shadows on the individual to those in the image’s background. Count the number of arms, legs, and fingers on each hand. If you’re looking at a video, pay close attention to someone’s eyes and movements. They might blink unrealistically, or not at all.

How does the audio sound? Deepfake audio can often sound stilted or unnatural. Does the individual’s voice rise and fall with a natural tone and cadence, or does it sound flat and robotic? Take the time to consider what they’re asking for and do some fact-checking on your own. Consider the example of the deepfake video of Canada’s Prime Minister promoting a crypto investment. It would make sense for a prime minister to encourage people to invest in his country, but not for him to promote a crypto investment. A bit of investigating, such as checking legitimate news organizations or fact-checking websites, could’ve saved those three men from losing so much money.

Learn about Our Secure Banking Services at Vision Bank

Due to the rising threat of AI scams, businesses and consumers will have to take their scam and fraud prevention strategies to a whole new level and remain vigilant at all times. At Vision Bank, we want you to have all the digital security resources you need to avoid getting scammed.

We use multi-factor authentication, verify wire transfers, check IDs for in-person banking, and make it easy for customers to report lost or stolen credit cards. Our online banking features encryption technology and timeouts to protect your sensitive information.

Please contact us or visit one of our many South-Central Oklahoma locations to learn more about how we can help with your financial security and how we keep your transactions safe.