AI Scams Prevention Guide: Essential Tips for Safety in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how scammers target victims, making fraudulent schemes harder to identify than ever before. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports a significant rise in AI-powered scams across North America, with victims losing money to increasingly sophisticated tactics. These new AI tools allow scammers to create convincing voice clones, realistic videos, and personalized phishing attempts that bypass traditional security measures.

The Growing Threat of AI-Powered Scams

According to recent BBB reports, artificial intelligence has become a game-changer for scammers. Shawna Leung, director of the Better Business Bureau for Atlantic Canada, explains that AI technologies now enable fraudsters to create convincing replicas of voices, images, and even video content.

“The technology has advanced to the point where scammers can accurately mimic someone’s voice after analyzing just a few seconds of audio,” Leung warns. “This development has made verification much more challenging, as people can no longer trust that a familiar voice on the phone truly belongs to someone they know.”

These AI tools have significantly lowered the entry barrier for scammers. What once required specialized technical skills and sophisticated equipment can now be accomplished with readily available AI applications. The result is a new wave of scams that appear legitimate even to cautious individuals.

Common AI Scam Techniques to Watch For

Understanding how these new AI-powered scams work is the first step toward protecting yourself. Here are the most prevalent techniques currently being employed:

Voice Cloning Scams

AI voice cloning represents one of the most alarming developments in modern scams. These attacks typically begin with a scammer obtaining a short audio sample of someone’s voice—often from social media posts, public speeches, or phone calls. Using AI tools, they can generate a synthetic voice that sounds remarkably similar to the original.

The scammer then uses this cloned voice to create urgent scenarios, such as:

• Calling family members claiming to be in an emergency situation requiring immediate financial help
• Impersonating executives to authorize fraudulent financial transfers within companies
• Leaving voice messages that appear to come from government agencies or financial institutions

In one documented case, a grandmother received a frantic call that sounded exactly like her grandson claiming he had been arrested and needed bail money immediately. The voice was so convincing that she wired several thousand dollars before discovering it was a sophisticated AI-generated impersonation.

Deepfake Video Scams

Deepfake technology has evolved rapidly, allowing scammers to create convincing video content that shows real people saying or doing things they never did. These videos can be used to:

• Create fake celebrity endorsements for fraudulent products or investments
• Impersonate company executives in video calls to authorize financial transactions
• Generate compromising or embarrassing content for blackmail attempts

“The quality of these deepfakes has improved dramatically,” notes Leung. “What used to look obviously fake can now appear authentic even under some scrutiny, especially in lower-quality video calls where some imperfections might not be noticeable.”

AI-Enhanced Phishing

Traditional phishing attempts often contained obvious red flags: poor grammar, generic greetings, or suspicious email addresses. With AI assistance, modern phishing has become far more sophisticated:

• Personalized emails that reference specific details about your life, work, or recent activities
• Grammatically perfect messages that mimic the writing style of colleagues or organizations you trust
• Contextually aware scams that reference current events or ongoing projects relevant to you

These AI-powered phishing attempts can analyze your digital footprint and communication patterns to create messages that seem legitimate and relevant to your specific situation.

How to Protect Yourself from AI Scams

While the technology behind these scams continues to advance, there are effective strategies you can employ to protect yourself and your loved ones:

Establish Verification Protocols

Creating a personal system for verifying identities can help thwart voice cloning and impersonation attempts:

• Establish a family code word or phrase that must be used during emergency requests
• Agree to specific verification questions that only the real person would know the answers to
• When receiving unexpected calls requesting action, hang up and call the person back directly using their known number

“Even if the voice sounds exactly like your loved one or boss, take a moment to verify through a separate channel,” advises Leung. “A simple text message or call to their known number can quickly reveal if they actually contacted you.”

Limit Your Digital Footprint

The less personal information and content available online, the harder it is for scammers to create convincing AI impersonations:

• Review privacy settings on social media accounts and limit what’s publicly visible
• Consider reducing the amount of voice and video content you share publicly
• Be cautious about participating in viral voice or video challenges that could provide scammers with training data
• Regularly search for your own name online to discover what information is publicly available about you

Implement Multi-Factor Authentication

For financial transactions and sensitive accounts, insist on verification methods that go beyond voice or appearance:

• Use app-based authentication rather than SMS codes when possible
• For business settings, require multiple approvals for significant financial transactions
• Consider biometric verification for high-security needs

According to Microsoft Security Research, multi-factor authentication can block over 99.9% of account compromise attempts, making it one of the most effective protections against many types of scams.

Stay Informed About Current Scams

Knowledge remains your best defense. Staying current on the latest scam techniques can help you recognize potential threats:

• Subscribe to BBB scam alerts for your region
• Follow trusted cybersecurity sources for updates on emerging threats
• Discuss current scams with friends and family to increase collective awareness

The Better Business Bureau maintains a Scam Tracker database where you can search for and report scams in your area.

What To Do If You’ve Been Targeted

If you believe you’ve encountered an AI-powered scam, taking quick action can help limit damage and prevent others from becoming victims:

If You Haven’t Responded Yet

• Document the attempt by saving messages, recording call details, or taking screenshots
• Report the incident to the BBB Scam Tracker and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• Alert friends and family about the specific technique used

If You’ve Already Engaged or Sent Money

• Contact your financial institution immediately to try to stop payments or transfers
• Change passwords for any accounts that may have been compromised
• File a police report, especially for significant financial losses
• Monitor your credit reports and financial statements for unusual activity

“Many victims feel embarrassed about falling for scams, but these new AI techniques are designed to bypass our normal skepticism,” says Leung. “Reporting quickly gives everyone a better chance of recovering funds and preventing further losses.”

Real-World Example

Last month, a small business in Halifax nearly lost $45,000 to an AI scam that combined voice cloning with social engineering. The company’s financial controller received what appeared to be a legitimate call from the CEO, asking for an urgent wire transfer to secure a time-sensitive business opportunity.

The voice sounded identical to the CEO’s, and the scammer referenced specific company projects that would have been known only to insiders. What saved the company was a verification protocol they had implemented just weeks earlier: any financial request above $10,000 required confirmation through their secure messaging platform.

When the controller sent a verification message, the real CEO—who was actually in a meeting and hadn’t made any calls that morning—immediately flagged the request as fraudulent. Investigation revealed that the scammers had likely gathered information from company social media posts and a podcast interview the CEO had recently given, which provided enough audio to create a convincing voice clone.

The Future of AI Scams and Protection

As AI technology continues to advance, both scams and protective measures will evolve. Here’s what experts predict for the coming years:

Emerging Threats

• AI-generated content becoming virtually indistinguishable from authentic content
• Scams that combine multiple technologies (voice, video, text) for maximum believability
• Targeted attacks using AI analysis of potential victims’ digital behavior patterns

Developing Solutions

• AI authentication systems that can detect synthetic voices and deepfake videos
• Digital watermarking and content provenance standards to verify authentic media
• Improved biometric verification methods resistant to AI spoofing

“We’re in an arms race between scammers using AI for deception and security experts developing AI to detect those deceptions,” explains Leung. “In the meantime, human awareness and caution remain our most effective defenses.”

Key Takeaways for Staying Safe

While the technology behind AI scams may seem complex, the fundamentals of protection remain straightforward:

• Verify unexpected requests through separate, trusted channels
• Apply healthy skepticism to urgent demands for money or sensitive information
• Establish verification protocols with family and colleagues before emergencies occur
• Reduce your vulnerable digital footprint where possible
• Stay informed about current scam techniques
• Report suspected scams to help protect others

By combining awareness with practical protective measures, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to even the most sophisticated AI-powered scams.

References

• Better Business Bureau – How to Spot a Scam
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• Federal Trade Commission Scam Alerts
• Interpol – Social Engineering Scams
• National Institute of Standards and Technology – AI and Cybersecurity

Have you encountered an AI scam attempt? Share your experience in the comments below to help others recognize similar tactics. Together, we can build a more scam-resistant community.