Consumer Focus: How to Stay Safe as AI Supercharges Scams

The era of spotting a scam by its bad grammar and spelling is officially over. Artificial intelligence is now supercharging fraud, making fake messages, emails, and even phone calls terrifyingly realistic. As the technology gets better, our methods for protecting ourselves must get smarter.

Scammers are using AI to create perfectly written, highly personalized messages at a massive scale. They can clone the voice of a loved one from a short audio clip posted online or create a fake but plausible email from your boss. The old rules no longer apply. Here’s how to protect yourself in this new landscape.


1. Stop and Verify Through a Different Channel
This is the new golden rule. AI scams are designed to create a sense of extreme urgency to make you panic and act without thinking. A message might say your bank account is compromised or a family member is in trouble and needs money right now.


Your Action: Do not reply or click any links. Stop. Find a trusted, independent way to verify the information. If the email is supposedly from your bank, close the email and go to the bank's official website or use their app. If you get a frantic text from your child, call them directly on their known phone number. Never use the contact information provided in the suspicious message itself.

2. Establish a Family Code Word
The "virtual kidnapping" or "family emergency" scam is one of the most cruel and effective. Scammers can now use AI to clone your loved one's voice and make it sound like they are in distress.

Your Action: Agree on a secret code word or phrase with your close family members. It should be something unique that a scammer could never guess. If you receive a frantic call asking for help, your first question should be, "What's the code word?" If they can't answer, it's a scam. Hang up immediately.

3. Be Wary of "Perfect" Opportunities
AI is also being used to create highly convincing job offers, investment opportunities, and online shopping deals. They will look professional, with flawless websites and AI-generated images of fake employees or products.


Your Action: If an offer seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. No legitimate employer will ask you to pay for equipment upfront. No investment guarantees massive returns with zero risk. Do independent research on any company before providing personal information or payment. Search for the company's name plus "scam" or "review" to see if others have reported fraudulent activity.

4. Trust Your Gut, Not Just Your Eyes and Ears
Ultimately, the best defense is a healthy dose of modern skepticism. In 2025, we must operate on a "zero-trust" basis with unsolicited digital communications. The emotional manipulation is the core of the scam. The goal is to make you feel fear, greed, or sympathy so strongly that you override your logical brain.

If any message—no matter how convincing it looks or sounds—asks you for money or sensitive personal information with a sense of urgency, the default assumption must be that it is a scam until you can prove otherwise through independent verification.