In recent times, scammers have been refining their strategies, sending text messages that might as well have been drafted just for you. In an interview with FOX 10 Phoenix, Tim Roemer, ex-chief of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security, didn't mince words: "I warn everybody, don't respond to these. Don't click on anything. Don't believe it." The spam landscape is seeing a surge in messages that probe into the personal, like weekend plans or flight details, and it's causing a stir among people who can't always differentiate the fake from the real.
Adopting an unsettlingly more personal approach, these scammers now harness publicly available AI to compose convincing messages in impeccable English, something they struggled with before. As Roemer, now at Scottsdale-based GMI, explained to FOX 10 Phoenix, the first reason for these personalized messages is the easy access criminals have to such AI tools. The second reason is the treacherous amount of personal data folks still freely post online. Scammers exploit that very information to refine their social engineering tricks, making us all potential targets, students and seniors alike.
This disturbing trend is supported by findings from Securelist, which detailed the staggering evolution of phishing and scams. Cybercriminals are now using AI to create content that's difficult to flag as a scam. From realistic messaging to voice cloning and deepfake technology, the boundaries between authenticity and deceit are blurring. Such AI-generated communications are getting harder to spot, even as they proliferate across text, voice, and video formats.
For instance, a growing trend involves online dating scams where AI is used to simulate emotional connections and reel victims into bogus investment opportunities. The use of deepfakes extends to creating fake endorsements and giveaways, sporting celebrities that seem to offer high-ticket items or cash to unsuspecting fans. The sophistication of these scams speaks to a chilling truth: as technology progresses, criminals are not merely keeping pace, but might even be outstripping the best efforts of individuals to stay safe online.
The most prudent measure one can take against these deceptively personalized texts is to block and delete the message without engaging. As echoed by Roemer's dire caution reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, "People will lose their entire life savings over trusting somebody over a mediated communication device."
