AI scammers outperform humans when it comes to building trust

The notion that scammers can use AI to sharpen their deceptions, polish their language, and lubricate their banter with victims is now a reality for anyone fighting the fraud operations that steal tens of billions of dollars a year worldwide.

But can AI fully replace a human scammer, autonomously building the web of deception leading up to the fake investment that defrauds the mark?

One study's experiment suggests that it can—and may even be able to carry out the majority of that long con more effectively than humans.

Researchers from four universities—Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in India, Foscari University of Venice, the University of Melbourne, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev—carried out a broad study on the use and potential of generative AI chatbots in the growing scam industry centered around a form of fraud known as “ pig butchering ,” text-based romance scams that eventually shift to fake crypto investments that steal as much as six-figure sums from victims.

In their study, the researchers pitted AI chatbots directly against humans in a simulation of the scamming process—or more specifically, the long, trust-building conversations that eventually lead up to soliciting

References

• Original
  AI scammers outperform humans when it comes to building trust