Who scams the scammers?
Considering our modern technological landscape—which is rife with new and devious means of digital fraud thanks, in large part, to the introduction of artificial intelligence—one might glumly surmise that we are approaching a Mad Max-level, apocalyptic online reality, where even the most routine browsing experience could result in a digital hijacking.
Unfortunately, these recent advances in technology have led hackers to up the ante of their cybercrime tactics, which can make victims out of even the most responsible internet users.
Wouldn’t it be nice for something to proactively work against today’s scammers instead of simply reacting to their latest attacks through software security updates? (Which is still important: Keep your devices updated!)
The good news is that there looks to be some help on that front. And the cavalry is coming from a surprising source: AI.
Problem … Solved?
I know what you’re probably thinking: Isn’t AI the reason for many of our current digital dangers? Things like voice cloning, deepfakes and promptware either leverage AI as a tool for cybercrime or attack its vulnerabilities to gain access to users’ personal data.
However, AI is also being used to make the digital space a little safer. If you’re an avid reader of our weekly “On the Radar” feature (and why wouldn’t you be?), you’ll know that we touched on this topic just a few weeks ago.
A recent article from WIRED highlighted the Australian company Apate, which aims to leverage AI against cybercriminals. Apate has built a system that diverts phone scammers to AI bots. These bots are designed to realistically impersonate a potential fraud victim and waste as much of the scammer’s time as possible without, you know, actually falling for the scam. It’s a twist of irony that the cybercriminals who originally used AI imitation to defraud people might themselves be suckered by an AI fabrication.
Now, simple distraction may not sound like the most impressive counter to cybercrime, but, as Apate founder and CEO Dali Kaafar notes, “A minute that a scammer is talking to a bot or an agent is a minute where you’re probably saving hundreds, if not thousands of possible people being reached out to by that exact same scammer.”
Apate’s anti-fraud army of nearly 350,000 bots will also trawl scammers’ online chat groups to proactively acquire information on their schemes.
The company’s success shows the potential for future anti-fraud efforts. The scary thing about AI in the hands of a scammer is that it can exponentially increase the reach and damage of that bad actor. But if AI can be used to counteract many of these malicious attacks—while sharing pertinent information about current scams with the appropriate agencies like law enforcement—the future of online safety may look a little less grim.
Just imagine the infinite loop of AI “scammers” contacting AI “victims” and going round and round until the last internet server on Earth fizzles out …
Actually, don’t do that. I think I just gave myself a headache.
A Solution, Not the Solution
While it’s nice to see a positive headline about AI use in the technology security space, it’s important to remember that AI, however useful, is far from a fix-all.
As cybercrime and the methods to prevent it continue to evolve, the best thing you can do is to make sure you and your family follow digital safety best practices. Keep devices updated. Steer clear of questionable websites. Enable extra layers of protection like multi-factor authentication. Limit sharing personal information via social media.
You’ll never be perfectly protected—being online will always carry some level of risk—but you can do a lot to protect yourself and your family from falling prey to scams.
And, hey, if AI wants to don the cape and do a little digital crimefighting, too, that certainly wouldn’t hurt.
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