Online scams are nothing new, but artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to dupe people.
What used to take days now takes a scammer only minutes to create.
A new report from Microsoft highlights the scale of the problem. The company says it took down almost 500 malicious web domains last year and stopped approximately 1.6 million bot signup attempts every hour.
“Last year we were tracking 300 unique nation-state and financial crime groups. This year, we’re tracking 1,500,” Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of Microsoft Security told CBS News Confirmed.
The company attributes much of the rise in this type of crime to generative AI which has streamlined the process to make a website.
“You can just buy a kit off the web,” Jakkal explained. “It’s an assembly line. Someone builds the malware. Someone builds the infrastructure. Someone hosts the website.”
Jakkal explained that AI isn’t just helping set up fraudulent sites, it also helps make them more believable. She said scammers use generative AI to create product descriptions, images, reviews and even influencer videos as part of a social engineering strategy to dupe shoppers into believing they’re scrolling through a legitimate business, when in reality they’re being lured into a digital trap.
Another tactic outlined in Microsoft’s report is domain impersonation. Jakkal said scammers make a near-perfect copy of a legitimate website’s address, sometimes changing just a single letter, to trick consumers into giving up money and information.
As well as raising awareness of these scams, the company is introducing new tools to help safeguard their customers. Microsoft’s web browser, Microsoft Edge, now features typo and domain impersonation protection which prompts users to check the website’s URL if the program suspects there may be a misspelling. The browser also uses machine learning to block potentially malicious sites before consumers reach the homepage.
“We’re trying to combat at every place where we see there’s a potential of someone being vulnerable to a fraud attempt,” Jakkal said. The idea is to put checks and balances in place so people are able to pause and reevaluate, he said.
Scott Shackelford, executive director at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University, commended Microsoft for being one of the most proactive companies in fraud prevention, but said more action needed to come from both the private and public sector.
“Having the backing of big tech as part of this kind of public, private partnership would be a really great way to show that they do take it seriously.”
No matter where you’re browsing, CBS News Confirmed compiled some tips to spot sham sites.
Tips to stay safe while shopping online
- Be wary of impulse buying: Scammers will try to use pressure tactics like “limited-time” deals and countdown timers to get you to shop fast. Take a moment to pause and make sure the site you’re on is the real deal.
- Check for typos in the URL: Some scam sites will try to mimic real companies. But since they don’t own the domain, it’s common to see a url that’s just slightly off from what you’d expect.
- Don’t rely on social media links: If you’re going from an app to a shopping site, close out of the page that opens automatically and try to find it independently on a web browser.
- Check the reviews: Fraudulent sites will use fake reviews to make the products seem real. Watch out for similar phrases or wording in the reviews, or an overwhelming number of five-star reviews.
- Use a credit card: This allows you to dispute the payment or claim fraud if it turns out the deal really was too good to be true.
