Hi everyone. I'm going to start off with a very fundamental truth of today, which is that AI is no longer science fiction. It is here and shaping the very reality we live in.Today AI can create music videos. It can create art. It can create entirety of essays and novels. It can also create videos of people saying things they never said.And this affected me personally when a friend of mine had a deep fake video made of her and shared across the internet. That's when it hit me. If it could happen to her, it c ...

Fraud Landscape - 73% of US adults have experienced some kind of online scam or attack [1] - Reported losses from fraud hit $125 billion in 2024, showing a significant increase [1] - Scammers exploit human desires and vulnerabilities for illicit gain, targeting areas like romance, travel, and relief efforts [6] - Scammers are leveraging AI and deepfakes to create more sophisticated scams [10][18] - Democratization of access to AI capabilities allows scammers to target anyone and everyone, including small business owners [17][18][19] Common Scam Tactics - Dating scams involve fake verification services that subscribe victims to recurring billing services [3][4][5] - Travel scams involve mimicking airline or hotel websites to steal payment information [7] - Scammers use phishing, smishing (SMS phishing), and data from the dark web to obtain personal and financial information [7][8] - Scammers scrape social media profiles to create synthetic identities to target family or co-workers [16] Prevention and Mitigation - Consumers should be wary of deals that are too good to be true or situations where they are pressured to make a quick decision [9] - Consumers should check their account statements regularly and sign up for transaction alerts [5][13][14] - Consumers should be careful about the data they share, especially on social media [15][16] - Visa has identified over $1 billion in scams across its network and is working with law enforcement to dismantle them [9] - The industry needs to invest in good applications of AI to combat the bad applications of AI used by scammers [11]

Industry Trend & Risk Awareness - The industry faces a growing threat from love scams and deep fakes, impacting individuals and families [3] - Scammers use stolen identities to build relationships and defraud victims of money [3][4] - Cybercriminals are evolving their methods, including using QR codes for phishing [16][17] - The Philippines ranks seventh globally in connection to love scams [15] Individual & Corporate Security Measures - The industry emphasizes the importance of regularly changing passwords and setting social media profiles to private to mitigate risks [18][19] - It is crucial to be vigilant about dubious links and requests for money in messaging apps [17] - Encourages individuals to report suspicious activity and break the stigma surrounding scams [21][22] Data & Statistics - In 2023, Filipinos may have lost around 10 linked to romance scams, increasing to 45 in 2024 [15] - Globally, approximately 1,000 people are linked to romance scams [15] - One victim lost $2,000, equivalent to approximately 9 to 11 million Philippine pesos [8]