GreyNoise observed automated scanners impersonating the web crawlers of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Amazon while requesting environment files, cloud access keys, private keys and password stores. A cluster of 13 forged AI crawler names from eight companies was seen; six names (belonging to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google…
Trend Micro published research (Unmasking Task Scams) on task scams, a fast-growing fraud model in which fake online job offers lure victims into repetitive, gamified digital tasks and then extract funds through escalating deposit demands. Operators impersonate legitimate staffing firms and digital marketing agencies and use SMS, WhatsApp…
A Russian influence operation is reportedly targeting Latin America, with schools in Peru and Ecuador among the targets. According to Dark Reading, the operation used AI to support its activity. Its tactics included spoofed emails, fake government documents, and the creation of a local organization to give the campaign a domestic presence…
The FBI warns that scammers are likely to exploit the 2026 US Midterm Election to run financial fraud schemes against victims across the United States. The PSA updates alert I-102924-PSA from 29 October 2024. Scammers use candidates' names, images, logos and slogans to solicit fake campaign contributions, sell merchandise that is never de…
Trend Micro published a report, Deepfake it 'til You Make It: A Comprehensive View of the New AI Criminal Toolset, describing how cybercriminals use inexpensive, off-the-shelf generative AI platforms to produce deepfake video, audio and images. Many of these platforms are marketed to content creators. Observed abuse includes CEO fraud wit…
This WeLiveSecurity explainer gives practical advice to people targeted by AI-generated deepfakes, which are increasingly used in fraud, extortion, harassment and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII). It sets out the legal context: the US TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes NCII distribution and requires platforms to remove reported content w…
Scammers continue to exploit Bitcoin/crypto ATMs as an irreversible payment channel in impersonation fraud. According to the FBI, 13,460 such complaints in 2025 resulted in $389 million in losses, a 23% rise in volume and 58% rise in losses over 2024. Victims over 50 lost more than $302M, and those over 60 accounted for $257.4M. The scam …
Scammers are exploiting the annual Medicare Open Enrollment period (October 15 to December 7) as a pretext to impersonate insurers, agencies or Medicare itself. Contact comes by phone, SMS, email, social media and malicious Google ads that lead to spoofed, official-looking websites. Lures include plan changes, card replacement, lower prem…
Flashpoint joined the UK National Crime Agency (NCA), the DOJ, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations and private-sector partners in "Joint Disruption Week", held in London the week beginning October 6, 2026. The operation targeted West African scam networks running cryptocurrency investment scams, impersonation scheme…
Trend Micro released its 2026 Consumer Security Predictions Report on December 3, 2025. It warns that scams will reach unprecedented scale as fraudsters combine automation, AI-generated personas, voice cloning and deepfake media with emotional manipulation. The report expects multi-channel scam journeys to become the dominant pattern in 2…
Check Point Exposure Management reports that fraudulent voter-registration messages and legitimate political outreach are converging ahead of the 2026 US midterms, making it harder for voters to tell real messages from fake ones. Between July and September, election offices in Rhode Island and Washington warned of fake emails and texts as…