Back when AI models were becoming an everyday talking point, many experts and those in the cybersecurity industry predicted how scammers and criminals would begin commandeering these tools for their personal gain.

Unsurprisingly, this has proved increasingly true. This last year alone, studies have shown that over half of the criminals’ targets are falling for their AI-powered scams.

How Effective are These Scams?

According to a study conducted by Avant Research Group, when testing against their control group using traditional phishing emails, participants fell for nearly 54% of scams vs only 12%. This is an increase from 1 in 10 people to 5 in 10 people. 

That’s alarming.

Seeing as we’re still in the infancy of many of these AI tools and technologies, this means we’re likely to see even more sophisticated scams showing up over the next couple years. Who knows how high that number might get?

How Does This Affect You?

Based on the study’s findings, they ruled that the findings were useful (meaning we can rely on the numbers) in 88% of cases, and only had inaccurate results for 4% of the participants. This means that nearly 9 out of 10 times a potential victim will be seeing a scam that is so well developed that it has a 50% chance of convincing them.

These numbers should scare you, or at least draw your attention. How are you prepared to navigate a digital landscape where dangers like these exist, and are only going to keep getting better? How confident do you feel about landing in the 46% who didn’t fall for these scams vs the 54% who did?

Is There a Bright Side to All This?

Despite all this gloom and doom, there is some good news in the midst of this. AI models are also being trained by ethical hackers and cybersecurity professionals to recognize scams and flag or block them before they can become an issue.

Because of this, as long as you’re following good practices, common sense, and the usual tips when it comes to protecting yourself from scams, you’ll be alright in most cases. 

Make sure you’re doing the following

1. Use some virus protection and active scanning, especially in your email accounts.
2. Don’t click on emails you weren’t expecting.
3. Don’t open attachments you don’t recognize.
4. Never click on links in unsolicited emails.
5. Always verify with the actual person instead of trusting them over email.
6. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Worried About Falling for Scams? iDefend Can Help!

Fortunately, iDefend members enjoy access to an expert support team who are always happy to help you look at and review suspicious emails, help you adjust your antivirus and detection settings, and even recover from scams or cleaning up your devices if they get infected.

Learn more and get protected today! Try iDefend risk free and save 30%.