AI-Driven Online Financial Scams Surge in Bulgaria
Bulgaria's financial regulator warns that online financial scams are increasing in sophistication through the use of AI technologies that generate fake voices, videos and messages to deceive consumers. Criminals reportedly use these tools to impersonate relatives, bank officials and public figures through social networks, messaging apps and unsolicited calls, with reported consequences including financial loss and identity theft.
What happened
Online financial scams are entering a new stage of development through the use of artificial intelligence, which enables criminals to create increasingly convincing fake messages, profiles, voices and videos, according to a warning from Bulgaria's Commission for Financial Supervision (КФН) citing new informational material from European supervisory authorities.
Scammers now use content generation technologies that can imitate voices of close relatives, bank employees or public figures, with such contacts often conducted through social networks, messaging applications, emails or unsolicited telephone calls.
Reported impact
The consequences can be serious – financial loss, identity theft and even psychological stress.
Common types of fraud include impersonation via deepfake technologies, phishing messages and social engineering, fraudulent investment or insurance schemes, romantic scams through social networks, and fraudulent purchase offers outside official platforms.
Index analysis
Specialists emphasize that legitimate companies never request passwords, PIN codes or banking data through messages or telephone conversations.
Experts advise users to always verify the source of messages, not open unsolicited links, use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, and be particularly careful with offers that seem "too good to be true."
Governance controls
Families are additionally recommended to create a secret "safe word" for identity confirmation in case of suspicious calls.
If someone becomes a victim of fraud, they should immediately stop contact with the perpetrator, contact their bank, change all passwords and report to police or the relevant financial regulator.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.