Faith Logue, Contributing Writer
Artificial Intelligence scam calls are on the rise, convincing the victims they call that their loved one is on the other line and needs their help or that they owe money to the government. These scam callers are making AI tech impossible to identify to their advantage, affecting those young and old. With tax season approaching, AI scam calls will make their moves on the older population. Making the time to be on alert and act now.
CBS News and The Today Show reported the story of Jennifer DeStafano, who received a call from her daughter citing that bad men were trying to kidnap her. But it wasn’t her at all. The “men” demanded $50,000 that she didn’t have and didn’t know what to do. “Never doubted it was her, I had a whole conversation with her. It was the way she cries. The way she would respond to me,” DeStafano had said. Luckily she was able to speak with her husband and confirm her daughter was indeed safe, but that doesn’t take away from the traumatic experience.
According to CBS, Americans lost nearly $9 billion to fraud last year alone. With a surprising amount of younger people experiencing fraud losses than older people. The Today Show reported that one in four people say they’ve experienced an AI voice cloning scam or knew someone who had gotten a scam phone call. These high numbers show how effective these scam calls are. AI is going to get more advanced. More scammers and threats will emerge in the years to follow. And someday AI might become so advanced that video calls can be replicated.
As tax season is coming to its peak, many scammers will pretend to be IRS agents and demand money or ask for private information. There are several things people can do to protect themselves. One of them is to get antiviral software like McAfee. Or perhaps, according to CBS News, create a safe word that only your family knows. They’ve also encouraged people to make their social media accounts private, scammers you track and study their victims online. And if you get one of those calls, hang up and call that person from their actual number to make sure that who you were talking to was real.
Key giveaways of scams posing as the IRS are asking you for your money because no federal agent would do that over the phone. Besides, wouldn’t the IRS have all your information if they’re calling you?
We are now in a confusing time where it’s become hard to decipher what is real and not real. AI is making this problem worse. Now is the perfect time to study ways to stay safe online and keep your private information secure. Think before you act is what people say. Before you do what these scammers are asking, understand who you are speaking to on the other line before taking action.
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