AI Is Going To Be Challenging, But Robo-Calls And Texts Are Stealing Money Every Day. What You Need To Know To Prevent Fraud

You’ve seen countless stories about how AI is going to take over the world. I worry about generative artificial intelligence, too, but I’m more concerned about less-sophisticated technologies.

Rob0-calls and texts filch money from unsuspecting people every day. According to Robokiller, this year “Americans have lost $14 billion to robotexts and $34 billion to robocalls, and scammers are focused on refining their tactics to steal money.” Their report predicts that by the year’s end, Americans are projected to lose upwards of $90 billion to phone scams.”

The calls are texts range from fake winnings to travel deals. They are largely fraudulent ways to get your financial information.

The sheer volume of robo-calls and texts is staggering: 78 billion robotexts and 31 billion robocalls were reported between January and June of this year — an 18% increase from that same timeframe last year, respectively, Robokiller estimates.

How do you know for certain if a robocall or text is a scam? Generally, you won’t recognize the number. Even if it’s a local area code, if it’s not an identified number in your “phonebook,” let it go to voicemail. You don’t have to pick up every call. If it’s someone you know, their number will be identified with their name and often their picture.

Update your contacts list on a regular basis with people and contacts you know. I always enter scam numbers in my contact list with identifiers like “Spamm.”

I receive dozens of phony calls, emails and texts every week. Here are some red flags:

• Voicemail is a always a dead giveaway. Nine times out of ten, it’s a recorded robo-message you don’t want to hear.
• Sometimes scamsters text to have you click on a link. That’s always a red flare to me. Don’t click on the link!
• The same warning goes for emailed links. Often they announce a fake prize or delivery using “spoofed” email addresses. Ignore them. Even if it’s the biggest giveaway imaginable, you don’t get something for nothing.

Here’s is what the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recommends:

You can easily watch out for common phone scams like government impersonator scams. If someone calls you out of the blue and asks you to hand over personal information or wire money or pay with a gift card, it’s a scam. That’s always an immediate flare that you’re being targeted.

The only thing I’m certain of is that AI will up the ante on deceptive pitches. That’s why you need to ignore most of the junk coming into your phone, email account and mail. Thieves don’t have to go to banks to steal money these days. All they need is Internet access and robo-dialer software.