If you feel like there has been an uptick in spammy content coming across your devices lately, you’re not alone. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so it’s the ideal time to refresh your understanding of what these scammers are capable of.

The internet is passing junk form responses and emails at an unprecedented pace. Spam text messages — many related to the election — come in nearly daily. A recent LinkedIn post told the story of an extortion attempt using a Google Street View image of a person’s neighborhood coupled with a threat to show up at their home. Yet another example is the new phishing attack that claims you’ve failed an internal company phishing attack test. The message requires you to click a link to “complete a training” or you’ll be reported to management.

According to a recent Time magazine article, it’s not your imagination. US consumers were victims of fraud at a record pace in 2023, to the tune of $10 billion. That’s a 14% jump from 2022.

What’s going on?

So what is driving the “Golden Age of Scams”? A big piece is AI. The tool is enabling malicious intent in a variety of ways.

Language

Large Language Models (LLM) are great at putting words together: It’s right there in the name. Unfortunately, spammers have taken advantage of this technology to write much more convincingly. Gone are the awkwardly phrased emails and requests from a “Nigerian prince.” They’re speaking our language now, and AI lets them use any language they need.

Modes of Connection

Some of the most compelling — and alarming — examples of scammers are those using AI-generated forms of media. Scammers aim to evoke panic, leading to hasty and poorly considered actions. New forms of AI that can generate voices or photos that play on that panic, even pretending to be a loved one or colleague.

Technology

AI can help spammers speed up robocalling, text messaging, and email automation, write scripts to spam web forms, setup domains and build fake websites quickly, and combine and organize ever-larger sets of user data. All the things that are helping businesses operate more efficiently are also helping them.

Creativity

New scams are popping up all over, with ever more creative ways of reaching targets, inspiring alarm, and collecting your valuables. And your scammer isn’t asking for bank accounts and Social Security numbers anymore; they’re targeting Bitcoin, gift cards, and other non-traceable forms of value.

What do we do?

First, developing technology to effectively block these attacks will require time and its own innovation. In the meantime, keep reporting these attacks to your service providers, whether it be text messages, emails, or form and comment submissions. If the attack is especially personal or egregious, it should be reported to the police. This data is all helpful for evolving protection tools and strategies.

Second, be wary. This might sound obvious, but it’s easy to be swept away by panic. While we’ve been educated to look out for certain scenarios, this is truly a new generation of attacks, with new and more alarming circumstances.

And finally, don’t lose trust. A side effect of the uptick in spam and scams is a doubt in our institutions. While there’s certainly a need for valid skepticism, try to keep a wholesome confidence in our community.

But also definitely get a second opinion before you send a dozen gift cards to a Nigerian prince.

Other Resources:
Town of Cary Crime Prevention and Reporting
Town of Cary Cybersecurity Information