Thanks to AI technology, scammers have found their newest niche. Online users are creating fake dating profiles and social media accounts for 'romance scams' where a person catfishes another person into dating them and eventually extorting them for money. In light of all these scams, DailyMail spoke with cyber security experts for tips on how to catch an AI profile. Let's take a closer look.
According to The Federal Trade Commission, these scams have cost Americans $1.3 billion in 2022 alone. Fraud and cyber security expert at SmartSearch, Martin Cheek, told the outlet that "ChatGPT makes it very easy for cybercriminals to pose as different people without having vast literary skills." Although AI-generated faces are not perfect, they can be pretty close. He added, "[They can] leverage the language model to generate more personalized messages and tricking people into falling victim to cyber-attacks." So how does one avoid being catfished?
To start, look at the hands. AI platforms understand people having hands, but often "they might be too big or have an extra finer," according to Cyril Noel-Tagoe, the principal Security Researcher at cybersecurity firm Netacea in the UK. Another cyber-security expert suggested looking for strange lighting and textures in the background to signal the photograph is fake. "If the outline of the person is blurry, for example, or if small details like shadows seem off, then you'll know the image isn't real." Vonny Gamot from the security software firm in California shared his firm has a concrete checklist, known as THEFT, to check out if images are fake. Upon seeing a photo, they check the tone, hair, eyes, face, and teeth to see if there are AI signs because the technology often has difficulties accurately generating all of these features. For example, blotchy skin patches, completely perfect hair (no loose strands), or expressionless eyes are all signs of fake photos.
A lot of the time, when scammers use an AI chatbot to message someone, the text can feel outdated, short, and redundant. They may respond with technical or high vocabulary responses, but if you ask it about current events, like who was eliminated from last night's Bachelorette episode, it might have a hard time responding. Because ChatGPT is a collection of information from years before, the information might feel outdated. So, with these notes, be careful out there!
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