AI Helps Drive Cyber Scams Across the U.S.

Artificial intelligence is making digital fraud less expensive and easier to personalize. A study from Consumer Reports, Aspen Digital and the Global Cyber Alliance found that 90% of Americans surveyed had come across a scam or cyberattack online. Among consumers, 17% said a breach involving digital security had cost them money.

The findings came from polling nearly 5,000 U.S. adults during March and April. Criminals can use AI to rapidly combine personal details exposed through breaches and produce convincing messages for many targets. One in five scams already contains customized elements, and that proportion is expected to rise quickly. A fraudster with someone’s physical address, for example, could impersonate a financial institution and present an attractive mortgage rate.

That increased personalization matters to Simi Valley homeowners, parents, commuters and businesses because familiar-looking messages can be harder to recognize as fraudulent. Even people accustomed to spotting misspellings or questionable links in phishing emails may encounter more advanced schemes using deepfake technology. Experts said some types of multifactor authentication have become essential as these methods improve.

Individual security steps remain necessary, but Brian Cute of the Global Cyber Alliance said broader cooperation among industry, government and philanthropy is also needed to address weaknesses in internet infrastructure and deceptive website registrations. The Take9 initiative offers a simple response: wait nine seconds before clicking, downloading, sharing or acting on a suspicious email or text, including requests to change a bank password.