MoneyMagpie Editor and financial expert Vicky Parry warns about advanced scams that are catching even experienced fraud-spotters out
As technology advances help the consumer, so they do the hacker, fraudster, and scammer.
The rise of AI and technological developments means it’s easier than ever for people to scam others on a mass level, and harder than ever to detect.
Knowing the latest scams out there isn’t about being paranoid, it’s about protecting your identity and financial information. If someone gets access to your phone or computer, or your financial information, it can cost a lot of time, heartache, and often money.
Car park scams
A seemingly small scam at first, this one catches people out all the time. As car parks move to cashless payments, many require you to scan a QR code to download an app or pay for your parking.
But scammers have stuck a different QR code sticker over the original. This leads them to a site that looks like a parking payment site, which the customer expects to see. They’ll add their financial information, and pay for parking. Except, then payments keep going from their account – sometimes to the tune of hundreds of pounds.
Social media shop scams
Social media shops are easy to set up, as are shopping websites on platforms like Spotify. This means scammers are now making duplicate websites very similar to legitimate sellers, stealing their advert content, and running adverts that appear to link to the website to buy the item.
Within days, the website shop will be closed, and you won’t get the product as they’ve stolen your cash. The best way to avoid this is to not click on an advert link and use Google to search for the original website.
Deepfake romance scams
Romance scams used to be time-consuming – but these days, the grossly-termed ‘pig butchering’ scams happen on a mass scale thanks to generative AI, deepfake technology, and chatbots. The scams are so-called because the victim is slowly fattened with the crumbs of romance and love, before the scammer swoops in for the kill.
They might ask for money to travel to see the victim. Or, they could ask for help with a household bill. Some might even convince you to hand over savings to prepare for a wedding, so that they can finally inherit the money they are owed which they’ll share with you when you’re their spouse.
AI investment scams
Romance scams can also take the form of investment scams. The scammer builds trust before moving the conversation to finances and investing, and saying how much cash they’ve made on a new investment platform. They encourage their victim to invest, and steal their money.
Other AI investment scams include the creation of multiple social media accounts, using deepfake videos and genAI photos to make a person seem real.
They’ll then post regularly about the amazing new investment platform or strategy they’ve been following, or how a particular share is about to rocket and that you should invest right now to make loads of cash. The volume of profiles and online chatter made possible by generative AI and deepfakes make this an easy scam to fall for, as it looks legitimate, with loads of sources are talking about the same thing.
AI voicemail scams
We’ve all had a scam call that sounds like a robot. It’s usually something like a pre-recorded message claiming to be from HMRC that we owe an awful lot of tax, and there is even a warrant out for our arrest or something similarly scary (and factually impossible – HMRC would never do this).
But voicemail scams are becoming more and more advanced. AI tools make chatbot scripts sound like a human is talking, even including stutters, ums, and ahs to make it sound like usual speech. A voicemail left will sound friendly, asking you to call them back on their personal line.
Don’t fall for it. If you receive a voicemail claiming that you owe money, or there appears to be a problem with your bank account that requires your verification, ignore it. Or, if you think there’s a tiny possibility it could be correct, find the company’s main phone number on their website and call it. Use the name left in the voicemail to find out if they are a real employee and ask to be put through. Never, ever call the phone number left on your voicemail.
Conversational email scam
One of the hardest scams to spot, a ‘long lost friend’ gets in touch via email. This is a very advanced scam, as it relies on using a person’s digital footprint (such as their social media profiles) to spoof an email from someone they might recognise.
Conversational chatbot technology allows a natural-sounding response, keeping the emails flowing back and forth. The scammer will pose as someone getting in touch because they thought of something that reminded them of the victim, or because they claim a reunion for school or work is coming up. They are familiar to the victim, who will reply – and the chatbot provides a convincing response.
This builds up to asking them to click on what seems to be a legitimate link – such as an invitation or event information – and that link doesn’t work. An error message will redirect the victim to try an alternative link, or ask them to redo the reCAPTCHA to prove they’re human. What this actually does is install malware on their device, enabling the scammer full access to things like banking apps and personal information.
If a ‘blast from the past’ emails you out of the blue, find an alternative way to contact them to check it was them.
What to do if you’ve been scammed
Scams are so easy to fall foul of these days, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t feel ashamed if you become a scam victim.
If you think your financial information has been compromised, immediately contact the relevant credit card companies and banks to tell them. For scams that have already happened, such as being duped by a fake social media shop, put a fraud claim in to your card provider and follow their process to get a refund.
Action Fraud is the place to report scams, and if you’ve been a victim of a scam you can also report to the police. It’s important to be proactive, as scammers can work fast to use your identity and financial information for a wide range of criminal practices, so act as soon as you realise you’ve been swept into a scam.
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