Interpol has said it plainly: with artificial intelligence and cheap digital tools, according to the international police organisation, “we are witnessing the industrialization of fraud”. The figures of recent weeks prove the point, and they are worth knowing, not to panic, but to raise the right defences.
The starting point comes from US regulators: consumers lost more than 12.5 billion dollars to fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and 2026 forecasts point upward precisely because of AI. Experian's annual fraud forecast places among this year's main threats the scams supported by AI capable of acting on its own, fake deepfake-generated job candidates in recruitment processes, and AI-assisted cyber break-ins.
The deepfake numbers impress by their sheer speed: scams using falsified video grew 700% in 2025, and this type of content already accounts for around 11% of global fraudulent activity, according to identity verification industry reports.
How does all this show up in daily life? Four forms dominate. The cloned voice: a call that sounds exactly like a son, a mother or a boss asking for urgent money. The cloned website: near-perfect replicas of a bank's or a shop's page, ever easier to manufacture with AI. The fake job offer: entire recruitment processes, video interview included, built to steal data or money. And the renewed classic: the miracle investment, now with deepfake videos of celebrities or executives endorsing it.
The defences, by contrast, remain low-tech, and that is good news because they are within everyone's reach.
Verify through a second channel. If “your son” calls asking for money, hang up and call him back on his usual number. Thirty seconds dismantle almost any voice clone.
Agree on a family code word. A word only your people know, for real emergencies. Cheap, effective and increasingly recommended.
Distrust urgency plus immediate payment. An urgent transfer, cryptocurrency or gift cards as the only payment method are the scammer's signature, with or without AI.
Type the address yourself. To access your bank, never use links received by message or email: the official app or the address typed by hand.
Protect your credit. Never share one-time codes with anyone, and in the United States consider freezing your credit with the bureaus if you suspect your data has circulated; it is free and reversible.
Fraud technology changes every month; the habits that stop it almost never do. The best security investment is still one minute of calm before paying.
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