They’re words of warning.
Phishing emails are becoming trickier to spot in this age of sophisticated — and often AI-powered — cyberscams. Fortunately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has flagged some telltale signs that the message in your inbox is a digital wolf in sheep’s clothing.
In a PSA, they warned against the possibility of scammers masquerading as relief agencies or celebs soliciting donations in an attempt to exploit tragic events like the “New Year’s Day Terrorist Attack” in New Orleans and recent Los Angeles wildfires.
“In 2024, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received more than 4,500 complaints reporting approximately $96 million in losses to fraudulent charities, crowdfunding accounts and disaster relief campaigns,” they wrote.
One telltale “sign of a scam,” per the FBI, is specific pressure to “act fast.” Those emails should be closed immediately because, unless sent by a close friend or family member, they’re likely a cybernetic Trojan horse.
Microsoft also warned people to “be suspicious of emails and Teams messages that claim you must click, call or open an attachment immediately.
“Often, they’ll claim you have to act now to claim a reward or avoid a penalty,” they wrote. “Creating a false sense of urgency is a common trick of phishing attacks and scams. They do that so that you won’t think about it too much or consult with a trusted advisor who may warn you.”
The so-called “emergency” outlined in a scam email doesn’t have to be disaster relief, either — it could be as innocuous as losing access to one’s Netflix account.
“If a message looks suspicious, it’s probably phishing,” seconded the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a U.S. defense arm, Forbes reported. “However, if you think it could be real, don’t click on any link or call any number in the message. Look up another way to contact the company or person directly.”
Other common ways to avoid getting swindled, per the FBI, include examining the URL, email address and spelling for mistakes, refraining from opening attachments from people you don’t know, and not clicking on unsolicited texts or emails.
“Remember that companies generally don’t contact you to ask for your username or password,” they warn.
Unfortunately, the infusion of artificial intelligence can often make catfishing correspondence indistinguishable from the real deal — like a cybernetic chameleon.
“Criminals exploit generative artificial intelligence (AI) to commit fraud on a larger scale which increases the believability of their schemes,” the FBI cautioned in an advisory last month.
AI’s ability to fly under the radar makes it ideal for everything from spear phishing to financial fraud scams, such as romance, investment and other confidence schemes.
In November, a UK woman who fell for a “U.S. army colonel” she met on Tinder later discovered that he was a romance scammer after he bilked her out of over $20,000 by deploying hyperrealistic AI videos.
A French woman also was conned out of a whopping $850,000 by a scammer posing as an AI-generated Brad Pitt.
