AI chatbots have cast a deception on the flow.
The Internet is less and less like a space where people just read, buy and rewrite. Increasingly, at the other end are not users, but automatic systems. Bots already generate more traffic than live visitors, and scammers connect automation and AI chatbots to quickly search for victims, lure money and put pressure on the business.
Automatic traffic is growing eight times faster than human, Human Security reported. The Thales report gives an even more unpleasant picture: bots account for 53% of all Internet traffic, and malicious automation took 40% of online activity over the past year.
Criminal groups use bots not only for spam. Automatic tools sort out passwords, look for vulnerabilities, check sites for weaknesses and attack the business logic of services. For companies, malicious traffic means unnecessary infrastructure costs, protection and handling of garbage requests. For ordinary users, bots spoil almost any familiar online experience: advertising, social networks, dating, correspondence and investment offers.
Infoblox threat researcher Mael Le Tovez explains that fraud has long turned into a game on a scale. The more processes criminals automate, the wider the network and the more people reach the final stage of deception. Infoblox recently studied two popular schemes: fake investment deals and romantic scams. The specific campaign targeted victims in Asia, but the general reception has already become global.
In cryptocurrency schemes, the researchers found AI-bots that depicted investment experts. The interlocutors constantly maintained contact, told fictional success stories, promised bonuses and gradually pushed a person to invest more money. At first glance, everything looked like an ordinary consultation. The final stage was usually built around the invented commission for the withdrawal of profits, which in reality did not exist.
Japanese TV channel RCC Chugoku Broadcasting described the case of a man over 60 years old who lost $ 63 000 due to scams with bots. Details of used chatbots Infoblox did not disclose, but Le Toz noted that attackers can relatively easily force almost any chatbot to conduct the necessary dialogue.
The psychology of deception at the same time almost does not change, even when instead of a live operator there is automation. The victim is in a hurry, create the fear of missing out on profits, promises a close relationship or a major financial gain. AI just helps put an old diagram on the stream: one scammer conducts more dialogues, collects data faster and keeps the victim’s attention longer.
An investment scam often begins with malicious advertising. Banners and ads promise the best algorithm for earning, imitate well-known financial specialists and transfer a person to a personal chat with an alleged expert. The romantic pig butchering scheme works differently: the fraudster first depicts sympathy, gradually forms trust, then starts a conversation about investments and disappears with money.
It is noteworthy that AI greatly simplified precisely long romantic scams. Previously, attackers had to manually support correspondence in dating apps, and now automation helps to make notes about the victim, remember the names of relatives, details of the biography and personal problems. The interlocutor seems attentive. Moreover, the system stores information from past messages and carefully returns the necessary details to the conversation.
According to Le Tove, fraudulent correspondence can begin almost anywhere. The reason is familiarity in the application, job offer, casual message or phrase like “I think I’ve seen you at Houston Airport.” What's wrong with a short answer to a stranger? Just with a short reaction, criminals often begin to unfold the conversation, gradually bringing communication to money.
The main alarming sign is almost always associated with urgency. Fraudsters demand to transfer money right now, to confirm participation immediately, to urgently invest or quickly prove trust. The best way to bring down the script is to stop and not make a financial decision at the moment of pressure. A night pause, checking the interlocutor and talking to a person out of correspondence often break the scheme better than any complex protection tool.
The Internet is less and less like a space where people just read, buy and rewrite. Increasingly, at the other end are not users, but automatic systems. Bots already generate more traffic than live visitors, and scammers connect automation and AI chatbots to quickly search for victims, lure money and put pressure on the business.
Automatic traffic is growing eight times faster than human, Human Security reported. The Thales report gives an even more unpleasant picture: bots account for 53% of all Internet traffic, and malicious automation took 40% of online activity over the past year.
Criminal groups use bots not only for spam. Automatic tools sort out passwords, look for vulnerabilities, check sites for weaknesses and attack the business logic of services. For companies, malicious traffic means unnecessary infrastructure costs, protection and handling of garbage requests. For ordinary users, bots spoil almost any familiar online experience: advertising, social networks, dating, correspondence and investment offers.
Infoblox threat researcher Mael Le Tovez explains that fraud has long turned into a game on a scale. The more processes criminals automate, the wider the network and the more people reach the final stage of deception. Infoblox recently studied two popular schemes: fake investment deals and romantic scams. The specific campaign targeted victims in Asia, but the general reception has already become global.
In cryptocurrency schemes, the researchers found AI-bots that depicted investment experts. The interlocutors constantly maintained contact, told fictional success stories, promised bonuses and gradually pushed a person to invest more money. At first glance, everything looked like an ordinary consultation. The final stage was usually built around the invented commission for the withdrawal of profits, which in reality did not exist.
Japanese TV channel RCC Chugoku Broadcasting described the case of a man over 60 years old who lost $ 63 000 due to scams with bots. Details of used chatbots Infoblox did not disclose, but Le Toz noted that attackers can relatively easily force almost any chatbot to conduct the necessary dialogue.
The psychology of deception at the same time almost does not change, even when instead of a live operator there is automation. The victim is in a hurry, create the fear of missing out on profits, promises a close relationship or a major financial gain. AI just helps put an old diagram on the stream: one scammer conducts more dialogues, collects data faster and keeps the victim’s attention longer.
An investment scam often begins with malicious advertising. Banners and ads promise the best algorithm for earning, imitate well-known financial specialists and transfer a person to a personal chat with an alleged expert. The romantic pig butchering scheme works differently: the fraudster first depicts sympathy, gradually forms trust, then starts a conversation about investments and disappears with money.
It is noteworthy that AI greatly simplified precisely long romantic scams. Previously, attackers had to manually support correspondence in dating apps, and now automation helps to make notes about the victim, remember the names of relatives, details of the biography and personal problems. The interlocutor seems attentive. Moreover, the system stores information from past messages and carefully returns the necessary details to the conversation.
According to Le Tove, fraudulent correspondence can begin almost anywhere. The reason is familiarity in the application, job offer, casual message or phrase like “I think I’ve seen you at Houston Airport.” What's wrong with a short answer to a stranger? Just with a short reaction, criminals often begin to unfold the conversation, gradually bringing communication to money.
The main alarming sign is almost always associated with urgency. Fraudsters demand to transfer money right now, to confirm participation immediately, to urgently invest or quickly prove trust. The best way to bring down the script is to stop and not make a financial decision at the moment of pressure. A night pause, checking the interlocutor and talking to a person out of correspondence often break the scheme better than any complex protection tool.
