How to protect yourself from AI scams, per UK officers

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt's eight Eastern, five Pacific, and if you're just joining us, here is the one-sentence version: criminals are using AI to make old scams look better.

2. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOkay, so the scams aren't new, they just got better tools? I mean, AI is just making the old tricks work smoother.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorClose. National Trading Standards in the UK says AI is not necessarily creating new types of scams, but supercharging existing ones.

4. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSupercharging. Like a pit stop for fraud.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe BBC reports trading standards officers pointing to clones and fake websites. The agency has launched an AI Scam Watchlist naming five techniques.

6. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFive! Give us the list, I'd like to hold up my fingers.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorFake websites, voice cloning, deepfake video, AI-generated images and digital humans.

8. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorDigital humans. So even the shop assistant is fake.

9. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHere's how we got here.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOfficials say criminals are reportedly poisoning AI models so they pick up scam websites and recommend them to people searching online.

11. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorRecommend them? The helpful answer box did that?

12. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCloned copycat sites with fake web addresses showed up in AI search results, taking payment for products that never arrived.

13. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOpenAI told The Guardian it removed the fraudulent sites from its search index.

14. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWell, that's quick of them, and I like a company that cleans up.

15. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSome of the fake retailers claimed to be family-owned firms selling quality UK-made products, with a High Street and Union Jack flags in the pictures.

16. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHonestly, that sounds like a lovely little town. I'd walk down that street.

17. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou would, and that's the product.

18. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo who does this hit? Is it everybody who shops online?

19. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNineteen percent of UK adults say they now avoid certain online activity because of scam concerns.

20. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSixty-two percent say they're confident they could spot an AI scam.

21. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSixty-two percent, that's a very confident crowd!

22. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThirty-five percent think AI will make scams even harder to spot.

23. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorLouise Baxter, head of scams at National Trading Standards, cautioned consumers not to assume a site is legitimate because it appears in an AI-generated answer.

24. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo the rule is, check the shop yourself. What's next?

25. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNext is the watchlist itself, which is meant to help people recognise those five techniques.

26. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorScoring this on my fun-size scale, I'd trust it with two bars of candy carried home.

27. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOnly two? Why so few?

28. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorBecause the answer box looked helpful too. The one-sentence version now: check the shop yourself, whatever it says.