GoKawiilIn the past couple of years, I’ve noticed an uptick in scam emails that get past Gmail’s spam filters. Since I'm an author, the emails I get are usually from so-called book clubs, filled with empty praise for my writing and an offer to market my books for a (typically exorbitant) fee.
Most of the time, these book clubs don’t actually exist. Sometimes, the book clubs do exist, but the person emailing me isn’t connected to them. The same scams are proliferating in the inboxes of every author I know.
While I can’t 100% prove these fraudulent emails are generated by artificial intelligence, experts at McAfee confirmed my suspicions that scammers are increasingly relying on AI for speed, scale and personalization.
“From deepfake audio and video impersonation scams to highly polished phishing, smishing and email campaigns that exploit fear, urgency and trust, these AI‑powered tactics are making scams more convincing and harder to spot than ever,” said Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at McAfee.
More sophisticated AI scams could try to persuade you to buy fake services, click malicious links or download harmful files. This can lead to damaged devices, extortion, lost funds or even wholesale identity theft, causing massive emotional and financial stress.
As these scams increase, it’s important that we learn how to identify them so you won't become the next victim.
How scammers are using AI
AI content generators use machine learning and natural language processing to create text instantly, whether for an article, social media post, advertisement or email. The software can create a personalized message easily by scraping specific content that could appeal to you directly. The book marketing emails I receive often pull words from one of my book blurbs and reorganize them to make it seem like the scammer is a fan.
Enlarge Image The all-caps "PAUL" is one clue that this email is likely an AI-generated scam. Dianna Gunn/CNET
Since it’s so easy to mass-create these emails with AI, the full scam comes later. Scammers wait to send attachments, links or prices for their fake services until you’ve responded enough to seem invested.
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