Many people have expressed concern that artificial intelligence will take over their jobs in the near future. Meanwhile, scammers are increasingly using AI to create fake job ads that steal your personal information. A new report from the Identity Theft Resource Center found that consumer reports of job scams increased 118% year over year in 2023. To make matters worse, the organization found that scammers are using AI to generate communications that look increasingly authentic, including fake job ads.
“The rapid improvement in the look, feel, and messaging of identity fraud is almost certainly due to the adoption of AI-driven tools,” the ITRC said in a June trends report. As AI tools become more widely available and easier to use, scammers are using them to refine their communications, the researchers said. As a result, scammers are able to sound more authentic and believable, especially when speaking to potential victims in other countries.
In fake job ads, scammers often use “documentation” to convince victims to give up personal information like Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, or direct deposit bank account numbers.
“Most of the victims did not suspect anything was wrong. We live in a new era of remote working, where using technology to communicate is completely normal,” the ITRC said in its report.
The group says the main defense against these scams is to call and verify the communication directly with the source.
These scams are just the latest examples of the many ways AI tools are being used by bad actors. Companies across the internet are struggling to keep up with people using AI to create disinformation and misinformation, including computer-generated images of real people in fake situations. Some of these AI-powered attacks have even gotten very personal, with the likenesses of global celebrities like Taylor Swift being stolen for deepfake porn, music, and other content.
Media and technology experts warn that the situation will probably get worse, especially as AI becomes increasingly adept at learning how to manipulate those it interacts with.
“These cons are very good at convincing people,” former Google scientist and “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, told CBS’s 60 Minutes last year. “They’ll have studied every novel ever written, every book of Machiavelli, every political conspiracy. They know it all, and they know how to do it.”
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Despite concerns about potential misuse and other issues, big tech companies are racing to incorporate AI into their products. While enthusiasm is growing, the approach has already produced some decidedly mixed results. Google, for example, was forced to apologize and delay the release of summaries of search results after its AI summary feature spread racist conspiracy theories and dangerous health information.
Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram have changed how they label posts that they detect as having been edited or created by AI after mislabeling a photo by former White House photographer Pete Souza.
Even startups like OpenAI have revealed high-profile efforts by hackers with ties to foreign governments to spread disinformation that, if successful, could effectively destroy our shared understanding of reality.
Fraud on the rise
Some job scams start with posting fake job listings on reputable job search sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter.
The scammers then lure victims into fake interview or hiring processes, asking them to share personal information that they then use to steal their identity. In some cases, the scammers also ask for login information to websites like ID.me, which partners with the U.S. government to verify the digital identities of people who interact with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Social Security Administration.
The ITRC said many people don’t realise something is wrong until the scammers have obtained the information they want and are no longer responsive.
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While employment and business opportunity scams make up only a small portion of the fraud that occurs online, this fraudulent activity is on the rise: In 2022, people reported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that they lost $367 million to employment and business scams, with the median loss calculated to be $2,000.
The ITRC said the information stolen by scammers is increasingly being used for “more nefarious” schemes, such as fraudulent applications for new car loans and credit card accounts.
As AI becomes more adept at remembering information and recreating a person’s identity, including their voice, criminals will have even more tools to steal identities and commit fraud.
