Beware of the Top AI Scams! Don’t Believe Everything You See or Hear.

Scammers are now using artificial intelligence (AI) to make the top AI scams more believable and harder to identify. Today, there are a few truths everyone must be aware of: In some cases, these are simply old scams that AI has enhanced; in other instances, it’s the technology itself that is at the heart of the scheme, making it so efficient and effective. According to reports from various organizations and websites that track cybercrime, here are the top AI scams reported by victims and potential victims. What it all comes down to is this: Because of the new AI scams, you simply cannot believe what you see, hear, or read these days. More than that, you need to slow down and think before reacting or responding to any message, video, email, or text you receive…starting today. The #1 Rule for Avoiding Scams: You Cannot Trust or Believe Everything You Read, See or Hear. Let’s take a closer look at the top AI scams. With as little as 30 seconds of a person’s recorded voice, a scammer can replicate that voice and create a dialogue in real-time. There are many examples of this AI-powered scam. One of the common uses of voice cloning is with a “family emergency scam,” and it’s working. A scammer goes online and finds the voice of someone his intended target knows. Typically, it’s the son or daughter of a parent. That voice clip can be from a YouTube video or other online post. The scammer creates a new audio clip of the child, claiming that they are in danger, possibly in jail, or kidnapped. The scammer then calls the parent, who hears the voice of what they think is their child, pleading for help. It would be hard for a parent not to believe what they’re hearing. Employees are often tricked by voice cloning as well. Imagine your boss calls you and tells you to send the quarterly reports to them at a new email address. Most employees would be quick to help, and thereby inadvertently provide a criminal with valuable company data. Read our article for more information on AI voice-cloning scams . Using AI, along with proper video editing techniques, fraudsters are creating fake videos of executives, business leaders, online personalities, and other prominent figures. These videos can provide false information, encourage people to make decisions based on lies, or simply spread rumors. AI is getting so refined, you’d have to really be paying attention to notice it’s not the real person talking. Read our article about spotting and avoiding deep fakes . Phishing emails and messages are nothing new. That’s where fraudsters pretend to be a colleague, vendor, or company and ask you to click on a link or take action. In the past, shoddy graphics, poor spelling, and awkward sentences gave them away. Not anymore. Today, anyone can use an AI chatbot to create a fake marketing brochure or a persuasive email in seconds. Scammers, utilizing AI, have taken it to the next level. Using AI writing and scripting capabilities, scammers can create personalized and custom emails or texts that seem 100% legitimate. For consumers, it means that spotting a scam is much harder. Check out our guide to spotting phishing scams . In case you didn’t know it, you’ve probably had “conversations” with bots (software-driven customer service centers) the past few years. At the heart of AI are the popular chatbots of today, particularly ChatGPT from OpenAI. Chatbots have proliferated and have already changed the world around you, even if you are unaware. Scammers have begun using technology to engage targets in conversations on fake websites or through social media. While the victims believe they are giving information to a person they trust, little do they know that a scammer is controlling the chatbot. Even worse, they are gathering and stealing valuable personal or financial information, which they’ll use to steal money or identities. See our article and infographic on what you should never tell ChatGPT . Scammers can use today’s AI to write incredibly detailed job descriptions and job offers for any position at any company, and then post phony job offers online. Here’s how AI is affecting your world: the growth of AI has led many companies to lay off employees doing tasks that AI has learned to handle. In the Fall of 2025, there were fewer jobs available and an excessive number of laid-off workers seeking employment. This creates an environment that allows scammers to create ads for nonexistent open positions. During the application process, victims may be required to divulge personal information or pay upfront fees for special training. Hear an interview on job scams and read our article on how to spot one. Yes, you can avoid AI scams and everyday, ordinary scams by creating new habits and new responses to every phone call, email, and text message you get. Here’s what cybersecurity experts advise: Learning how scammers operate is just one way to protect your accounts from cybercriminals looking to steal your money and identity. For more information on improving your online and everyday safety and security, visit our Learning Center for articles and podcast episodes.