Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing worry these days, even for tech leaders like Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. They’ve signed a petition asking OpenAI, the makers of the ChatGPT chatbot, to suspend development for six months for an independent audit.

Their concerns about AI’s potential impact on humanity in the future are justified. However, there’s AI being used right now that’s already causing significant financial harm to businesses and individuals. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning about an AI scam that sounds like a science fiction story, according to NPR.

Did you know that scammers are using deepfake AI technology to steal millions of dollars from people? They do this by fabricating the voices of loved ones, doctors, and attorneys, and then requesting money from their relatives and friends. This is not science fiction, it’s a real problem. All the scammer needs is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice, which they can get from content posted online, and a voice-cloning program. When they call you, they’ll sound just like your loved one.

And it’s not just consumers who are falling victim to this type of fraud. Businesses of all sizes are also at risk. For example, a bank manager in Hong Kong transferred $35m after receiving deep-faked calls from a bank director requesting a transfer. And an employee at a UK-based energy firm transferred $250,000 to criminals after being deep-faked into thinking that the recipient was the CEO of the firm’s parent. The FBI is now warning businesses that criminals are using deepfakes to create “employees” online for remote-work positions in order to gain access to corporate information. Stay vigilant and protect yourself and your business from deepfake scams.

Deepfake video technology has been increasingly used over the past few years, often targeting famous people such as Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Cruise, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. As we approach election year, we can expect to see even more convincing fake videos that aim to influence voters.

However, the real concern is how this technology can affect small business owners who may not be aware of the potential risks. Many business owners may have appeared in publicly accessible videos on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Even those who haven’t been on video can still have their voices stolen by fraudsters who copy outgoing voicemail messages or make fake calls to record their voice.

This type of fraud can cause significant and immediate losses, making it worse than malware or ransomware. To protect your business, it’s important to implement controls and enforce them.

In order to prevent financial fraud, it is important to have strict controls in place for financial transactions. This means that any financial manager in your business should not be allowed to undertake any financial transaction such as a transfer of cash based on an incoming phone call. Instead, everyone requires a call back to verify the source, even the CEO of the company.

It is also important to have a system in place for authorizing transactions over a certain predetermined amount. This should involve written approval from multiple executives in the company, and there must be written documentation – such as a signed request or contract – to support the transaction request.

While implementing these controls may be easier in a larger company, smaller businesses can still take steps to prevent management override, where rules are disregarded in favor of personal preferences. Business owners should establish clear rules and follow them, as it is for their own protection.

While AI technology like ChatGPT may pose risks in the future, there are already existing risks such as deepfake technology which can imitate executives and trick employees. As such, it is crucial to have proper controls in place to prevent financial fraud and protect your business.

AI stands for “Artificial Intelligence”. It is a branch of computer science that focuses on the creation of intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, decision-making, and language understanding. AI technology uses algorithms, machine learning, and other techniques to enable machines to process and analyze large amounts of data, recognize patterns, and make predictions or decisions based on that data. Some examples of AI technology include virtual assistants, chatbots, self-driving cars, and image recognition software.

By: Mr. WWK