Cybercriminals create far more sophisticated scams with generative AI than traditional phishing scams.
According to Visa research, scammers are fooling even the savviest internet users by launching pig butchering, inheritance, humanitarian relief scams, and triangulation fraud.
Despite what the name suggests, pig butchering scams have nothing to do with pork.
They're a form of sophisticated romance scam in which scammers build relationships with their victims - typically on social media - before persuading them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
These scams are so common because perpetrators themselves are often victims of human trafficking.
Generative AI plays a crucial role in pig butchering scams as the perpetrators often don't speak the same language as their victims.
Generative AI tools, alongside fraud factories, allow criminal groups to run pig butchering scams on a vast scale.
Inheritance scams are nothing new, but generative AI has made them far more common and effective.
According to Visa, 15% of US adults reported being targeted in inheritance scams.
Victims of inheritance scams typically receive an email or physical letter claiming a long-lost relative has died and left them a significant sum of money.
Generative AI tools enable inheritance scammers to create convincing letters, emails, or personas to fool their victims.
Again, generative AI tools allow scammers to overcome language barriers, create false accounts and communications at scale, and engage in convincing conversations with their victims.
Scammer - The scammer creates a fake online storefront or marketplace, often using stolen or fabricated credentials.
Victim - The unsuspecting buyer visits the scammer's website or online store and orders the desired product, believing they are purchasing from a legitimate seller.
Third-Party Seller - The scammer then places an order with a legitimate third-party seller or retailer for the same product, using the victim's shipping address as the delivery destination.
Profit for Scammer - The scammer pockets the difference between the price paid by the victim and the wholesale price paid to the legitimate seller.
Fake Store Creation - Scammers could use generative AI to create convincing fake online stores or seller profiles on e-commerce platforms.
Data Analysis and Optimization - Scammers could use generative AI algorithms to analyze purchasing patterns, product popularity, and pricing strategies to optimize fraudulent operations.
In summary, generative AI is facilitating the creation of sophisticated online scams such as pig butchering, inheritance scams, humanitarian relief fraud, and drop shipping scams to the tune of millions of dollars.
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This Cyber News was published on www.tripwire.com. Publication date: Mon, 27 May 2024 09:13:06 +0000