Today I am attending a seminar internal to my company about generative artificial intelligence or GenAI for short. It is very interesting and while I have played with the technology before, today we get to dive into a number of different topics. In my last session, we talked about the ethics of GenAI and acceptable use within my company, Sony, and how bad actors might be able to use it.
Yesterday I wrote about scam websites. I found it interesting that we would cover how someone could use GenAI to scam people. A few years ago my dad got an e-mail from a neighbor traveling in Europe who got into a bind and needed money. Wanting to verify the story, my dad called his neighbor. Yes, the neighbor was in Europe but no, he didn't need cash. Now using GenAI, the bad actor could call my dad using a fake voice that sounds exactly like the neighbor. What can you do to prevent such a scam from happening to you?
The obvious answer is to do exactly what my dad did before: call the neighbor directly. How you get off the phone is up to you. My favorite is faking a disconnection but the important point is to call the neighbor directly using a number you already know and not one provided by the scammer. This is especially important when the person asking for help is a close family member. While you may feel you can tell the difference between a son or daughter and some GenAI tool, the tools are becoming so advanced, it is getting tougher to hear differences.
As with any technology, GenAI can be used for good but it can also be used for harm. You don't have to become an expert in it to keep yourself safe from potential scams. You just need to understand what is possible and use your own common sense to prevent potential fraud.
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