AI-powered deepfakes fuel banking and retail scams surge
Scammers are using generative AI and deepfakes to impersonate public figures and conduct social engineering fraud targeting financial institutions and retail customers. North American banks reported a 10-fold increase in social engineering scams in 2024, with such fraud now accounting for 23% of all digital banking fraud.
What happened
Google warned users of AI-powered deepfakes being used to create realistic impersonations of public figures, with scammers using these synthetic media to promote fake investments, giveaways, and malicious apps.
BioCatch reported that North American financial institutions fielded 10 times more reports of social engineering scams in 2024 than in 2023, with social engineering scams now representing 23% of all digital banking fraud. The same report documented a 94% increase in reported money mule accounts.
Reported impact
Social engineering scams using AI-generated content have become significantly more prevalent, with the volume of reported incidents rising dramatically in the banking sector in North America.
Cryptocurrency investment scams continue to proliferate, often involving deceptive tactics and unrealistic return promises, with many schemes originating from organized crime entities.
Index analysis
Google noted that these fraud campaigns are complex, blending traditional impersonation and investment fraud while attempting to exploit multiple products as part of a single campaign.
Deepfakes often have unnatural facial expressions and strange promotional patterns that can serve as indicators of synthetic content used in fraudulent schemes.
Governance controls
Google's Trust & Safety teams have tackled these scam trends and provided users with safety guidance, including advice to look out for unnatural expressions in content and suspicious promotions from public figures.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.