Shoppers are being urged to watch out for a new generation of scams being created with the help of AI as they hunt out Black Friday bargains.
The landscape for scams this Christmas shopping period is vastly different to last year and even more difficult to navigate, according to fraud expert Nick Stapleton.
This is because scammers have ramped up their use of generative AI to make ultra-convincing posts and deals on social media platforms.
Shoppers lose an average of £125 to scams advertising Black Friday deals, according to Visa.
But in the worst cases victims lost as much as £3,500 to Black Friday shopping scams, according to cyber security firm Norton.
Meanwhile, the Home Office has even issued a warning ahead of the busiest online shopping period of the year, warning not to be pressured into ‘acting swiftly.’
We spoke to Nick – presenter on BBC TV’s fraud-busting show Scam Interceptors – who unveiled the secret AI tricks being used this Black Friday and watch to look out for.
Nick Stapleton (middle, right): I spend my life fighting scammers. The reality is that generative AI is making their job easier
AI now being used to select and target victims
In previous years, it would have been enough for shoppers to avoid scams by looking out for fake emails from fraudsters posing as online retailers.
But tactics for extracting money have evolved from these basic purchase scams to a more complicated nexus of fraud, often spanning social media platforms.
Scammers now lean heavily on AI as a tool to seek out victims who could be easy targets to extract money from.
Stapleton says: ‘AI is being used absolutely everywhere. The reality is that generative AI is making their job easier, and social media is often their platform of choice to put it to use.’
It has become harder to spot AI-generated content as it becomes more and more realistic.
Social media sites are a fertile ground for AI-generated posts and images, sometimes known as ‘AI slop’, showing unlikely or fantastical scenarios that look hyper-realistic.
Scammers are increasingly using so-called ‘sympathy posts’, where they create heartwarming images of children or pets combined with text describing an emotional story that has been generated by AI.
In one instance, for example, scammers published an AI-generated post with photos of singer Phil Collins appearing frail in hospital following rumours he was in a hospice.
The post went viral, amassing thousands of views.
Tricksters do this to test the waters for engagement. If someone comments or engages with the AI-generated post, the scammer is alerted to the fact they could be an easy target and they will begin to message them on social media, often from a different account.
Those who mistake fake AI-generated content for real content are nearly nine times more likely to be tricked by scammers than those who don’t, according to research by payments system firm Visa.
Stapleton says: ‘It’s natural that if you see a cutesy picture posted on your social feed alongside a well-written and sympathetic story.
‘You might want to interact by giving it a like or showing your human side in the comments.
‘Be careful, because these posts are often created by scammers using AI as a lure to try and find their next possible targets, the starting point in a lengthy and painful process you don’t want to experience.’
Chatbots lend credibility to scammers
Once scammers have hooked in their victims through emotive AI posts, they use clever software called ‘Large Language Models’ to communicate with them on social media messaging platforms such as Facebook messenger.
This software used by chatbots is able to understand and generate human sounding responses during a conversation.
The most popular chatbots are ChatGPT, owned by OpenAI, and Gemini, owned by Google.
Scammers use these chatbots to rapidly create convincing and professional-sounding messages to send to their victims.
By doing this, they refine what would otherwise be unconvincing messages to victims, giving them credibility that they are offering the service or selling the item they say they are.
They can also find out what a potential victim might be interest in buying by conversing with them.
Nick says: ‘I’ve seen tons of scammers who are using these models to write messages. They will use prompts like ‘re-write this for me so it sounds professional and believable’.’
Once a dialogue has been established in messaging apps, scammers will send a link directing people to a cloned retailer website with dodgy links.
What may appear as a real looking pair of trainers from a legitimate retailer will turn out not to exist.
As scammers control the back end of these bogus sites, when you put in your card details to ‘pay’ for the item, they have all your card details and can use them to spend money at their own will.
Another common ruse is to send you images of items in messaging apps and try to sell them to you directly by providing bank details for you to make a transfer to. Invariably, the item will never arrive.
Two in five people have bought a gift directly from a social media advert, and half of scam victims say that’s where they were caught out, according to cyber security firm Norton.
An AI image generated by Visa of a man competeing in high jump with a walking stick to show how easy it is to use AI to create convincing images
An AI scam on the rise
Investment scams are among the most cruel, with victims losing an average of £4,000. But there is a new iteration on the rise.
Nick Stapleton says: ‘One of the worst scams I’ve seen are a spate of scams that relate to AI and trading.’
Stapleton spoke to a man last year who lost £130,000 last year to an AI trading scam.
The man believed he was investing in an investment fund which was apparently ‘managed’ by AI to enhance returns.
‘The words ‘AI trading’ drew him in and the idea that AI can read the market better than a financial advisor and manager, but In 99 per cent of cases this will be a complete scam.’
How to protect yourself
1. Don’t interact with posts
If you don’t engage with social media posts by liking or commenting on them you won’t have a target on your back when scammers attempt to lure people in with AI.
Nick says: ‘The best advice is if you’re looking at a post and you’re not sure if it is AI-generated or real content is to not interact with it.
2. Approach social media posts as if you are in a foreign city
Don’t get complacent even if a post on social media looks and sounds sincere.
Scammers are most likely to target those over the age of 50 with AI-generated social media posts.
Stapleton advises: ‘Treat social media posts like you’re in a foreign city for the first time. You would have your wits about you in a new environment.’
3. Ask someone else for a second opinion
Asking a friend or family member to help you judge whether a social media post is likely to have been generated by AI could be the difference between you being targeted by a scammer.
Nick adds: ‘Having a second pair of eyes and ears and getting a second opinion is a really valuable thing if you are not sure a piece of content is real or not.’
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