--- title: "AI Scams: How to Spot Them and What to Do First" url: https://playciso.com/blog/ai-scams-how-to-spot updated: 2026-11-07 section: Blog publisher: PlayCISO --- # AI Scams: How to Spot Them and What to Do First > Cloned-voice calls, deepfake video, AI-written phishing and fake trading bots: the red flags from FBI and FTC advice, and what to do the moment one hits. Source: https://playciso.com/blog/ai-scams-how-to-spot · Published: 2026-11-07 · Publisher: PlayCISO (https://playciso.com) --- **An AI scam is a normal scam made more believable: a cloned voice that sounds like your relative, a face that looks like your boss on a video call, a message with perfect grammar, or a "trading bot" that promises easy money.** The good news is that the defence barely changes. The FBI and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) both say to stop trusting the voice or the face, and to check the story through a different route that you chose: hang up and call back on a number you already know. Everything below is built on their published advice, with the date of each source. ## Do this now: if something looks like an AI scam - Stop and slow down. Almost every scam in this guide depends on urgency. An emergency that cannot wait ten minutes for a phone call is a warning sign in itself. - Do not trust the voice or the face. The FTC's consumer alert of 20 March 2023 tells people not to trust the voice. Instead, call the person who supposedly contacted you, using a phone number you know is theirs. - Hang up and call back on a number you find independently. The FBI's alert of 3 December 2024 gives this advice for organisations as well as people: look up the number yourself, do not use the one the caller gives you. - Ask for the family secret word. The FBI recommends agreeing a secret word or phrase with family members to verify identity (December 2024 and May 2025 alerts). - If you cannot reach the person, try another family member or a friend, as the FTC suggests in its March 2023 alert. - Do not pay in ways that are hard to reverse. The FTC says scammers often ask for wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or gift cards with the numbers and PINs read out. The FBI says not to send money, gift cards or cryptocurrency to people you do not know or have only met online or by phone. - Report it. See "If you already paid" below for where. You can rehearse all of this in the [AI Scam Spotter Lab](/tools/ai-scam-spotter-lab), where a fictional person meets each scam in turn and you choose what to do. ## How to tell: the AI scams you are most likely to meet The FBI's alert of 3 December 2024 (I-120324-PSA) groups AI use by criminals into text, images, audio and video. Here is how each appears in everyday life. These are descriptions of patterns the agencies have published, not statistics. ### 1. The voice-clone "family emergency" call The FTC explained in March 2023 that a scammer needs only a short audio clip of a person's voice, which can come from content posted online, plus a voice-cloning program. The call usually comes from a panicked "loved one", such as a grandchild, who says they are in trouble and need money. The FBI's December 2024 alert describes criminals generating short clips of a loved one's voice to impersonate a relative in a fake emergency and ask for money or ransom. It also says cloned voices have been used to try to gain access to bank accounts. The defence is not a better ear. It is the call-back and the code word. Our [Voice Clone Fraud Defense Checklist](/tools/voice-clone-fraud-defense-checklist) walks a family through setting both up. ### 2. The deepfake video call and the fake executive The FBI says criminals use AI video to impersonate company executives, law enforcement or other authorities in live video chats, and to send "proof" videos that make a fake contact seem real. A face on a screen is no longer proof of who you are talking to. If the "boss" asks for an urgent payment, a gift card purchase or secrecy, confirm by phoning them on the number you already have, or walk to their desk. We cover the workplace side in [Real-time deepfakes, video KYC and the CEO on the call](/blog/real-time-deepfakes-are-here-video-kyc-and-the-ceo-on-the-call), and the general picture on our [deepfake detection guide](/deepfake). ### 3. AI-written phishing, romance and confidence scams The FBI notes that criminals use AI to write messages and build fake social media profiles that sound believable in romance, investment and confidence scams, and use AI translation to remove the spelling and grammar mistakes that used to give scams away. That means "it has no typos" is no longer a test. Judge the request instead: does it rush you, ask for secrecy, ask you to click or log in, or move you to another app? Someone you have only met online who suggests investing is the pattern; see also our guide to [WhatsApp scams](/blog/whatsapp-scams-how-to-spot). ### 4. Fake AI investment and trading bots The FBI also lists AI-generated promotional videos, fake celebrity endorsements and content for fake crypto investment sites. On 25 January 2024 the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, NASAA and FINRA issued a joint investor alert on AI and investment fraud. It warns against promises of guaranteed or better returns from "sophisticated AI algorithms" and against unlicensed operators that claim to offer AI in the investment process. Check that a firm and the person selling to you are registered before you send anything, and be suspicious of a famous face endorsing a get-rich tool in an ad. ### 5. Fake AI tools, apps and "AI business" offers Scams use the word "AI" as bait. In Operation AI Comply, announced on 25 September 2024, the FTC alleged that several business-opportunity schemes falsely claimed their "AI-powered" tools would produce income, and that an AI service was marketed as "the world's first robot lawyer" without the testing or lawyers behind the claim. These are the FTC's allegations in its complaints, not findings. The lesson for consumers: income promises tied to "AI" deserve the same suspicion as any other. Download apps only from the official store or the company's own site that you typed in yourself, and be wary of "free" AI tools that ask for permissions they do not need. ### 6. AI-generated reviews and fake customer support On 14 August 2024 the FTC announced a final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, which covers reviews that misrepresent their author as someone who does not exist, including AI-generated ones. A page of glowing, similar reviews is therefore weak evidence. Fake support is a related trap: you search for a support number, call a number from an ad or a chat window on a look-alike site, and an agent asks for remote access to your device or tells you to move money to a "safe account". Real banks and companies do not ask for either. Find the number on the back of your card or on the company's own site, typed in by you. ### 7. Voices and messages impersonating officials In its alert of 15 May 2025 (I-051525-PSA) the FBI said that since April 2025 malicious actors had been impersonating senior US officials, using text messages and AI-generated voice messages to build rapport and then steer targets to other platforms or links. The advice applies to anyone: verify the sender through a number or channel you already trust, check email addresses, numbers and URLs for small differences, and never share a code. ## Prevent it next time: a checklist - Agree a family code word now, in person, and never type it into a chat or post it online. - Write down the "call back on a number I already know" rule and share it with relatives who are less online. - Limit how much of your voice and image is public. The FBI advises limiting online content of your image and voice, making social media accounts private and accepting followers only if you know them. - Treat any request for gift cards, cryptocurrency or a wire transfer from a person you cannot verify as a scam until proven otherwise. - Use two-factor authentication where available, and never share a code with anyone (FBI, May 2025). - Do not click links or open attachments from a message until you have verified the sender. - At work, require a second person and a call-back for any payment or bank-detail change, whoever appears to be asking. - Talk about these scams at home. The FTC encourages talking about scams with family because it helps people recognise them. ## If you already paid or shared something This happens to careful people; the scams are built for it. Act in this order. First, contact your bank or payment provider immediately and tell them what happened, because speed matters with payments. Second, stop replying, and do not send more money, even to "release" what you already sent. Third, keep screenshots, phone numbers, account names and receipts. Fourth, report. In the US, report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; the FTC's alert gives that address, and the FBI asks victims to report to its Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov with identifying details, transaction information and how contact began. In the UK, the NCSC asks you to forward suspicious texts to 7726 and suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk, and fraud itself is reported to the police fraud reporting service (the name has changed over time, so check the current page). Fifth, if you shared a password or a code, change it and turn on two-factor authentication. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do AI scams work? Criminals use generative AI to make the old tricks more believable. The FBI's December 2024 alert lists AI-written text and fake profiles for romance and investment scams, AI-generated photos and fake IDs, short cloned voice clips of a relative in a fake emergency, and AI video used to pose as executives or authorities on live video chats. ### How can I tell if a call is a cloned voice? You often cannot by listening. The FBI says to pay attention to tone and word choice, but the safer test is not the voice at all: hang up and call the person back on a number you already know, or use the secret word your family agreed. ### What is a family code word and does it work? It is a secret word or phrase only your family knows, used to confirm identity in an emergency. The FBI recommends agreeing one with family members in both its December 2024 and May 2025 alerts. It only helps if the word is never posted online and everyone remembers to ask for it. ### Can I spot a deepfake video call by looking for glitches? The FBI lists visual flaws to look for, such as distorted hands or teeth, odd shadows, lag and unnatural movement. Treat these as a weak extra check, because fakes keep improving. Verify through a second channel instead, and never move money on the strength of a face on a screen. ### Are AI trading bots and AI investment apps legitimate? Some firms offer legitimate tools, but regulators warn about fraud that only claims to use AI. The SEC, NASAA and FINRA joint alert of 25 January 2024 warns about promises of guaranteed returns and unlicensed operators that claim to use AI. Check that the firm and person are registered before you invest. ### What should I do if I already sent money? Contact your bank or payment provider immediately, stop replying, keep screenshots and payment details, and report it. In the US report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov. In the UK use the police fraud reporting service and forward scam texts to 7726 and emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. ## Sources - [FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, PSA I-120324-PSA: Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud (3 December 2024)](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA241203) - [FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, PSA I-051525-PSA: impersonation of senior US officials (15 May 2025)](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250515) - [US Federal Trade Commission: Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes (20 March 2023)](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes) - [US Federal Trade Commission: Family emergency scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/scams/family-emergency-scams) - [US Federal Trade Commission: final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (14 August 2024)](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials) - [US Federal Trade Commission: Operation AI Comply (25 September 2024)](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/ftc-announces-crackdown-deceptive-ai-claims-schemes) - [SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, NASAA and FINRA: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Investment Fraud (25 January 2024)](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-alerts/artificial-intelligence-fraud) - [UK National Cyber Security Centre: Phishing, how to report suspicious messages](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/respond-recover/phishing) *This is general guidance, not legal or financial advice. Agency pages and reporting routes change; follow the official pages above for the current steps.*