Since the beginning of July 2023, Australia’s Securities and Investments Commission has shut down more than 600 crypto scams. But experts say that things could get a whole lot worse as new AI capabilities could give scammers versatile tools that will make their operations plain sailing. The scammers take advantage of the power of advanced technology to attempt to make things more challenging for the victims to identify the scam.
The crypto community lost over $1.3 billion to scams last year, a fact that has made financial regulators more than keen to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to their knees. In spite of concrete efforts on the way forward, the war against crypto scams in Australia is far from being won. This article gives you insight into the issue.
Crypto Scams Increase; Driven by AI and other Advanced Technology
The crackdown on 600 crypto scams is part of an exercise that has taken down over 5,530 fake investment platforms and 1,065 phishing hyperlinks. Actually, the fastness with which this form of scamming is growing points to just one very sad trend: Scammers never stop improving at a fast pace.
According to ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court, the decision raises deep concerns over the use of AI in these scams, specifically deepfakes. “The scams landscape is rapidly evolving. Innovative technology developments may improve how we live and work. However, they also provide new opportunities for scammers to exploit,” said Ms. Court. These developments stand to make it easier for fraudsters to dupe victims by touting fake celebrity endorsements and AI-made celebrity endorsements on their fake investments.
One of the alarming examples is the reproduction of the voices of public figures like Elon Musk through artificial intelligence. For example, in June 2024, more than 35 YouTube channels live-streamed a fake voice by Elon Musk, promising viewers that he would double their crypto amount if they deposited in the scheme. Actions like these are not only deceitful, leaving people with huge financial losses at the same time; instead, they are very effective.
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How AI is Making Scams Harder to Detect
Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET, said that AI could be used to fight crypto scams by rendering personalised summaries of the reputation of crypto entities based on raw data and reports provided by diverse sources, possibly alerting the consumer to red flags in an accessible and understandable format. He agreed, however, that while AI would be beneficial in this respect, it would be highly unlikely to eradicate the problem.
Fake crypto ads run on the platform, Facebook in particular, have also been reported by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Preliminary research from the ACCC suggests that fake crypto ads run on Facebook, in particular, with over half of them being scams or standing in violation of Meta’s policies. While Facebook’s parent company, Meta, would disagree with these new findings, the posture has brought to the fore the pervasiveness of the problem and the challenges involved in regulating the same.
Conclusion: The Ongoing Fight Against Crypto Scams
While there are large efforts from Australia in terms of fighting crypto scams, far from it, the fight has not been won. The continuous development of AI means it’s constantly going to introduce new tools for scammers. The bottom line is vigilance: consumers have to be aware that scams get sophisticated every day and should question the legitimacy of any investment opportunity, especially those that sound too good to be true.
The scams will catch up in this rising tide of technology, and continuous awareness and alertness will be the only way forward to stay ahead of them. The recent crackdown by the Australian financial markets regulator on more than 600 crypto scams underlines the fact that it has remained a persistent threat but calls for continued vigilance as AI and other technologies continue to evolve. Learn more about these scams to help you stay vigilant with news and updates from TheBITJournal.
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