What Retirees Need to Know About AI Scams

Key Points

• Senior citizens aged 60 and above lost almost $5 billion due to artificial intelligence fraud in 2024.

• Artificial intelligence enables hackers to tailor their fraudulent schemes, making it harder to distinguish between genuine and fake content.

• Unwanted communication, generating a feeling of urgency, exploiting your emotions, and excessive personalization are all warning signs that you might be a target of fraud.

• The $23,760 Social Security bonus that most retirees completely miss out on ›

What connection exists between voice cloning, deepfakes, and phishing? They all represent forms of artificial intelligence (AI) fraud.

Artificial intelligence frauds take many forms. However, they all share a common trait: they utilize AI technology to mimic reliable contacts (including imitating voices), compose persuasive messages and emails, and deceive senior citizens into disclosing financial details or transferring money.

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In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 859,500 reports of online criminal activity. The overall financial impact surpassed $16 billion, with individuals aged 60 and older experiencing the largest losses, amounting to almost $5 billion.

Regrettably, seniors encounter a variety of frauds, includingSocial Security scams. However, awareness is key when it comes to online fraud. Here’s what you should know to keep yourself safe.

AI scams are different

AI fraud is more focused and highly customized compared to traditional scams, which were often less precise and somewhat simpler to detect. AI provides scammers with the ability to mimic family members, design professional-looking websites and emails, and trick victims into thinking they are genuine.

Cybercriminals leveraging artificial intelligence now have an expanded range of possibilities. They can initiate large-scale fraudulent campaigns targeting numerous individuals or focus on particular people by utilizing data obtained from social media and other online sources.

If you’re a grandparent who has ever added your grandchild’s name in a Facebook update, you’ve provided a scammer with most of the information required to create a complex type of deception. Picture your grandchild attending college. A skilled online criminal could easily produce an incredibly realistic copy of their voice by using a short piece of your grandchild’s genuine voice, obtained from a voicemail message, a TikTok clip, or another readily available source.

How hard would it be for you to disregard a late-night call from your “grandchild” who says they’re in jail or stranded on the side of the road in a different state and is asking you to take money out of your account?your retirement account to help them out?

Artificial intelligence frauds are growing increasingly complex, making it challenging to distinguish reality from falsehood.

Common AI scams

In addition to using brief audio clips to mimic individuals — such as authority figures like police officers — cybercriminals are employing new fraudulent techniques. Here are two of the most prevalent ones:

Deepfake technology

Deepfake technology leverages artificial intelligence to create convincing images, audio recordings, and videos that give the illusion that a person has said or done something they actually haven’t. As a regular social media user, you might have encountered a deepfake image or video and still considered it genuine. Such is the level of realism these creations can achieve.

Here are two methods by which a deepfake could be utilized to deceive you out of your money:

1. Account takeover:A malicious hacker might utilize a deepfake to replicate your look, voice, and even your behaviors. Picture this: you’ve been banking with the same financial institution for many years and are familiar with most of the staff. Deepfakes can be so realistic that an employee might think they’re talking to you on the phone and give the hacker access to your account.
2. Interpersonal: If you are involved in an online relationship, the individual you’re communicating with might not be who they say they are. With the help of deepfake technology, they can generate images and videos to make it seem like they are someone else. After gaining your trust, they will start asking for small amounts of money and keep doing so until you realize their deception or exhaust your funds.

Phishing

With the help of AI, fraudsters can create highly realistic emails that bypass spam detection systems. These messages appear so similar to those sent by trustworthy organizations that identifying any discrepancies is almost impossible.

Fraudsters frequently craft emails that look like genuine alerts about your account or urgent demands for details. By gathering data from the internet, hackers tailor the messages to make them seem as though they were created just for you.

As stated by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,these suggestions may assist you in preventing a phishing attack:

• Stay away from offers that appear too good to be real.
• Question the messages that use pressing language.
• Examine every message carefully. Check for discrepancies in email addresses, like conflicting domain names.
• Exercise caution with emails received during odd times, such as early in the morning or on weekends.
• Avoid clicking on links or attachments.
• Exercise caution when scanning QR codes.

Protect yourself

The National Council on Aging (NCOA)) mentions these are some of the warning signs to watch for:

• Requests for personal information:Never share private information like your bank details or Social Security number.
• Outdated content:Certain artificial intelligence tools are developed with restricted data, leading to the production of obsolete content.
• High-pressure pitches:Fraudsters are well-known for instilling a feeling of urgency, pushing you to act rapidly.
• Overly formal language:Artificial intelligence is currently very popular, but it frequently generates text that lacks a natural tone.
• Odd payment requests:You might recognize a problem if you’re instructed to make a payment through a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or gift card — three examples of methods that are usually difficult to track.

Artificial intelligence is not inherently negative. In fact, there are methods to utilize AI to generate income. Nevertheless, your most effective strategy is to acknowledge that there are some unethical individuals out there and take all necessary steps to prevent them from causing you damage.

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