A fraudster has stolen thousands of dollars from a victim after using AI to pose as an FBI operative.
The Pennsylvania State Police says a scammer duped a New York resident into sending $4,000 in Apple gift cards after pretending to work at the FBI, reports WGAL News 8.
Authorities say the scammer claimed that he was Agent Joshua Robert Simmons and sent a photo of himself working in an FBI office, an image which police say is clearly AI-generated.
The scammer convinced the victim that his credit card accounts were showing suspicious activity to get him to send the Apple gift cards. The thief even went as far as to ask the victim to make down payments on Apple devices such as iPads and iPhones at a nearby T-Mobile outlet.
In February, a study found that 46% of Americans are being targeted by scams daily, with 79% saying that schemes are now more convincing because of AI tools.
Last year, the FBI reported that it received more than 9,000 AI-related complaints to its Internet Crime Complaint Center, and losses were piling up. The Bureau also said that fraud losses have soared to $16 billion, representing a 33% jump from the figure reported in 2023.
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