FCC names its first-ever AI scammer in threat alert

By Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report for Fox News
Monday, June 17, 2024

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The first artificial intelligence robocall scammer has been officially named by the Federal Communications Commission. But is it too little, too late?

What experts have to say

Dr. Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at ImmuniWeb and Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity at Capital Technology University, commented:

"In 2024, we will probably see a surge of computer-enabled fraud and crimes — which should, however, be distinguished from pure cybercrime — propelled by the ballooning misuse of freely available Generative AI (GenAI) tools and online services. When combined with well-thought-out social engineering campaigns, GenAI can cause unprecedented financial damage in mass-scale phishing or fraud campaigns. For instance, elderly people and other socially vulnerable groups may be perfidiously tricked into paying ‘fines’ for speeding or petty offences that they have never committed.

"Well-prepared fake calls nefariously exploit people’s respect of law enforcement and government, for instance, calling on behalf of the local police or the FBI, citing numerous laws and regulations with some legalese to intellectually disarm and psychologically paralyse their victims. With VoIP, phone numbers can be easily spoofed, so many gangs utilize real phone numbers of law enforcement agencies to increase authenticity of their calls.

"Then the victim may be offered a ‘big favour’ (allegedly available only to first-time offenders) to pay the fine online or even by sharing their credit card details via phone — instead of traveling to the police station or local court. Sadly, most victims will readily pay. Worse, quite some will keep the event confidential, truly thinking that they did something bad and were lucky to avoid harsher penalties." Read Full Article