The FBI is warning the public that criminals exploit generative artificial intelligence (AI) to commit fraud on a larger scale which increases the believability of their schemes. Generative AI reduces the time and effort criminals must expend to deceive their targets. Generative AI takes what it has learned from examples input by a user and synthesizes something entirely new based on that information. These tools assist with content creation and can correct for human errors that might otherwise serve as warning signs of fraud. The creation or distribution of synthetic content is not inherently illegal; however, synthetic content can be used to facilitate crimes, such as fraud and extortion.1 Since it can be difficult to identify when content is AI-generated, the FBI is providing the following examples of how criminals may use generative AI in their fraud schemes to increase public recognition and scrutiny.
Criminals use AI-generated text to appear believable to a reader in furtherance of social engineering,2 spear phishing,3 and financial fraud schemes such as romance, investment, and other confidence schemes or to overcome common indicators of fraud schemes.