Artificial Intelligence and Your Security

Don’t Get Tricked by Criminals Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI-Generated Text

Criminals use AI-generated texts to appear believable to potential victims of romance, investment and other confidence schemes or to overcome common indicators of fraud schemes. Criminals are able to send messages faster and to a wider audience with believable content containing fewer grammatical and spelling errors, which are red flags for foreign criminals targeting US victims.  

AI-Generated Images

Criminals use AI-generated images to create believable social media profile photos and identification documents like fake driver’s licenses or credentials for law enforcement, government, or banking for identity fraud and impersonation schemes, and other images to support their fraud schemes.

Criminals frequently produce photos to share with victims in private communications to convince victims they are speaking with a “real person”. Another scheme is creating images of celebrities to promote counterfeit products, or creating images of natural disasters or global conflicts to elicit donations to fraudulent charities.  Criminals also create pornographic photos of a victim to demand payment in extortion schemes.

AI-Generated Audio, aka Vocal Cloning

Criminals use AI-generated audio to impersonate well-known public figures or family members to elicit payments.  Criminals create short audio clips containing a loved one’s voice to impersonate a close relative in a crisis situation, asking for immediate financial assistance or demanding a ransom.  Or they record you to create an AI-generated audio clip to impersonate you to obtain access to your bank accounts.

AI-Generated Videos

Criminals use AI-Generated videos to create believable depictions of public figures to bolster their fraud schemes.  These might include real-time video chats with alleged company executives, law enforcement, or other authority figures, videos for private communications to “prove” the online contact is a “real person,” or videos for fictitious or misleading promotional materials for investment fraud schemes.

Tips to Protect Yourself

Create a secret word or phrase with your family to verify their identity.

• Look for subtle imperfections in images and videos, such as distorted hands or feet, unrealistic teeth or eyes, indistinct or irregular faces, unrealistic accessories such as glasses or jewelry, inaccurate shadows and unrealistic movements.
• Listen closely to the tone and word choice to distinguish between a legitimate phone call from a loved one and AI-generated vocal cloning.
• If possible, limit online content of your image or voice, make social media accounts private, and limit followers to people you know to minimize fraudsters’ capabilities to use generative-AI software to create fraudulent identities for social engineering.
• Verify the identity of the person calling you by hanging up the phone, researching the contact of the bank or organization purporting to call you, and call the number directly.
• Never share sensitive information with people you have met only online or over the phone.
• Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone.

If you believe you have been a victim of a financial fraud scheme, please file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.  If possible, include the following:

• Identifying information about the individual including name, phone number, address and email address.
• Financial transaction information such as the date, type of payment, amount, account numbers involved, the name and address of the receiving financial institution, and receiving cryptocurrency addresses.
• Describe your interaction with the individual, including how contact was initiated, as as the type of communication, purpose of the request for money, how you were told or instructed to make payment, what information you provided to the scammer, and any other details pertinent to your complaint.