SCAMS USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

Scammers take every opportunity to trick you into believing their lies are legitimate offers, wins, and even emergency requests from friends and family. Now, with the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI), scammers are using this new method to personalize their tricks and cons to make them appear even more real, legitimate, and believable — from AI-generated photos and voice clones that mimic a real person to wording that builds a relationship with a victim over weeks. But a fake is still a fake. As in any other scam, these fakes are created to separate you from your hard-earned money or property.

AI fakes are being used in many types of long-running scams, from romance to investment scams, cryptocurrency scams, and even scams claiming to be tech support. Whatever the scam, they all involve imposters who are looking for their next victim, but it doesn’t have to be you.

It can be difficult to recognize scams that use AI, but here are some tell-tale characteristics:


  • Inconsistent or thin social media footprint — the person contacting you has few friends, recently created account and/or posts, comments that don’t seem natural orare too well-written, or images that don’t match name/profile details.
  • Odd website or email address details — tiny misspellings, non-secure websites that askfor login info, or an email address that doesn’t match the website domain asking forinformation (example: “john.doe@USPSUS.com,” when USPS.com is the actualdomain name).
  • Requests to move communication off-platform — insisting on speaking viaWhatsApp, Telegram, or a separate private email address so platform securityprotections won’t apply.
  • Inconsistencies in audio/video — lip sync timing may be off, weird lighting/jerkymotion, or a voice that doesn’t quite match the person you know.
  • Too-good-to-be-true financial returns — “guaranteed” high returns, pressure torecruit others, or “exclusive” private opportunities.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE A VICTIM OF A SCAM?

  1. Stop Communication

    Stop communication with the scammer and preserve all messages and transaction records.

  2. Contact Bank

    Contact the bank/payment provider immediately to attempt to stop or trace transfers.

  3. Report it!

    Report to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report; Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at reportfraud.ftc.gov; and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov. Report the profile and messages to the platform where the contact occurred.

  4. Update passwords

    Change passwords and enable MFA if you shared login info.

  5. Freeze credit

    Place fraud alerts and a credit freeze if you shared sensitive financial data.

  6. Contact authorities

    Contact local police if you lost significant sums of money or were threatened.

  7. Seek support!

    Seek support! Scams cause emotional harm, so talk to trusted friends, family, or a counselor.

  8. Contact law enforcement

    If you used cryptocurrency, contact law enforcement immediately. Tracing is difficult, but reported early, there may be a chance of recovering your funds.

Accept the Challenge

If you believe you have been a victim of any scam connected to the U.S. Mail, report it to postal inspectors at 877-876-2455, or at www.uspis.gov/report.

REPORT NOW