In 2023, based on wire fraud statistics nearly a quarter of consumers received suspicious communications, which may have occurred over text, email, phone, or social media. Of those who interacted with the sender, one in twenty consumers fell victim to wire fraud, which begins over electronic channels. That same year, consumers lost a reported $10 billion to fraudulent activities, a significant portion of which began as wire fraud.

The growing inter-connectedness of digital systems, combined with the alarming ingenuity of financial criminals, has led to a convergence between payment fraud, cybercrime, and AML. As financial transactions increasingly occur online and real-time payments have expanded to over seventy countries, cybercriminals are exploiting these trends by developing sophisticated schemes to target vulnerabilities in digital payment systems.

As Tax Day in the U.S. looms on the horizon, so too does the risk of falling victim to online scams. In 1986, the first year that e-filing was available, five people filed their returns electronically. Since then, the popularity of e-filing has increased so much that 92% of individual tax returns are now e-filed. As online tax filing and payment have become more popular, though, scams targeting unsuspecting taxpayers have as well.

Dive into the shadowy world of AI-generated deepfakes and investment scams to uncover how scammers do it--and how to avoid getting tricked.

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned the public to be cautious if contacted by people claiming to be... FTC staff. In a warning published on its website, the FTC said that scammers were using its employees' real names to steal money from consumers.

The amount of money to run an AI-based disinformation campaign is miniscule compared to the influence the campaign can have on society. As I noted in my recent SecurityWeek piece “Preparing Society for AI-Based Disinformation Campaigns in the 2024 US Elections”, there are four common steps in these efforts: Reconnaissance, content creation, amplification and actualization.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to carry out cybercrime isn’t new, but as AI becomes more advanced, so do the tools that cybercriminals are using. One of the most recent AI-enabled cyber threats we’ve seen is cybercriminals using voice-cloning technology to carry out scam calls. You can protect yourself from AI voice-cloning scam calls by blocking spam calls, not picking up calls from unknown numbers and creating a safe word with your family in case a legitimate emergency occurs.

Read also: A LockBit affiliate sentenced in Canada, a scammer gets 10 years for leading a massive credit card fraud ring, and more.

Scammers are impersonating job-seeking platform Dice with phony employment opportunities designed to steal victims’ information. “This week, Dice received reports that individuals are receiving messages from senders claiming to be Dice recruiters on various messaging apps,” the company says.

Online shopping is the norm nowadays, which means you will likely face new threats, including brushing scams. Brushing scams are a form of e-commerce fraud where sellers create fake orders to boost product ratings and visibility on e-commerce platforms. While this might seem harmless at first glance, brushing scams can have severe consequences for unsuspecting consumers.

Read also: the US charges an Iranian hacker, over 50 mules involved in betting fraud arrested in Spain, and more.

“Phantom hacker” scams — tech support-style scams that trick people into transferring money by falsely claiming their computer or online security is compromised — are on the rise, and “significantly impacting senior citizens, who often lose their entire bank, savings, retirement or investment accounts to such crime”, CNBC reports.

The IRS reports that scam calls have been on the rise in recent years, with thousands of people falling victim to them.

Fraud is a problem that impacts all of us in different ways; there’s probably no one who hasn’t been directly or indirectly impacted by some kind of fraudulent activity. Have you or someone you know had their identity stolen? Has someone hacked your email or social media account? Have you had money taken from your account (think bank or credit cards here) one way or another? These are all examples of fraud and how it can affect us.