Senior News Line: AI-assisted scams against seniors

It’s not that scammers are getting smarter, but they have a new tool now: artificial intelligence. For our own protection, we need to learn about AI and how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

If you’ve posted any pictures on social media, take them down. Make it your task for January to remove any photos you’ve put up, especially if — heaven forbid — there are snaps of your children and grandchildren.

If you routinely attach photos in emails to friends and family, and if they tend to post those on their own social media, ask them to remove the pictures.

If they don’t comply, stop sending them photos. I know, that’s harsh. But you have to protect yourself and those dear to you.

Photos are the tip of the iceberg, however. Consider what scammers can do with innocent information about a vacation you took.

They can personalize their scam against you and pretend to have met you on that trip. If you’ve posted the names of family members, or even the name of your dog, they can pretend to actually know you.

It will sound so innocent if they then ask for your home address or the correct spelling of your name so they can send you a souvenir.

It gets worse: Scammers can clone voice samples they find online. If you’ve posted a video of a teen grandchild, scammers can convert that into a fake video call wherein the child appears to be upset and asks for help, which is another version of the grandparent scam.

One of the best sites I’ve found to learn about AI scams is McAfee’s “A Guide to Deepfake Scams and AI Voice Spoofing” at https://tinyurl.com/Deepfake-Scams. Also go online and search for “how scammers use AI against seniors.”

If you suspect you’ve been a victim of fraud, report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.