Perhaps unsurprisingly, recent research produced by Stop Scams UK and PwC asserted that “AI will drive an increase in the volume and sophistication of fraud and scams”. But, equally, it also pointed out it will be used in its detection.

Generative AI is in the fast lane, enabling computers to interpret language and images to produce text, music, audio, and videos. AI-generated ‘deepfakes’ are appearing in the form of videos or audio recordings impersonating a real person, and while they’re often created for legitimate reasons, they’re also creeping into fraudulent activity and disinformation.

It’s been hard to miss the media attention around deepfake scams, with several high-profile people being impersonated.

There’s football icon David Beckham miraculously speaking nine languages; money saving guru Martin Lewis promoting a fake investment; and audio of a replica of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s voice talking negatively about Remembrance Weekend.

Deepfake AI is predicted to grow insidiously, making it something important for businesses to guard against in the future. Sam Hedlund, Project Manager Apprentice in our Fraud Prevention Centre, points to a ‘bogus boss’ scam carried out in 2019 – one of Britain’s first deepfake frauds – when an energy executive was persuaded to hand over £200,000 after listening to a fake audio clip of their boss’s voice.

As this software becomes more accessible and sophisticated, more fraudsters will attempt scams of this nature, Sam warns. “As AI gets smarter, this could potentially be something fraudsters use to evolve their scams.”

Some threat actors will already be using AI chatbots such as ChatGPT to support their activity, he adds. “A fraudster could quite easily use AI to help them create a well worded and formatted phishing email.” From here, he says “it would be a small step to use these chatbots to create convincing scripts for a variety of scams”.

However, for now, criminals are still seeing success from traditional techniques such as drafting a fraudulent email claiming to be from an existing supplier asking for bank details to be updated; they don’t necessarily need to invest in new tech, although he predicts this will change: “We anticipate that more fraudsters will resort to using AI technology to target businesses and that education remains key to tackling business fraud.

"Fighting fraud is a constant cycle of education and reinforcement of the messages. It’s important to be continually updating your knowledge to not only include current fraud threats, but emerging trends too and plan for them because it’s not if, but when, a fraud will happen.”

Reassuringly, Sam says: “AI-detecting software is continuously being developed to counter these threats and help to identify fraudulent activity.”

• Check the source of suspicious content, so its origin, file name, size
• Be alert to a robotic tone or that lips are in sync with what the figure on the screen is saying
• For images, faces may look distorted or feature blurred edges
• Look beyond social media if you suspect misinformation
• Use your common sense – as with any fraud, be wary of time-pressured requests or unusual behaviour

Read more insights and watch our webinars for further advice on how to avoid falling victim to fraud.