A recent investigation found that American technology is being used to power a revolution in the scam industry, with scammers using software built with artificial intelligence models from US tech companies to target victims at unprecedented speed and scale.

Global Scam Operation

Safeer Mohammed Koorimannil, a man who was trafficked to a scam center in Myanmar, impersonated a 28-year-old Singaporean woman named Ella, chatting with over 100 people across dozens of profiles at the same time. He targeted some 50,000 victims from at least 17 countries in just a month, using software that allowed him to seamlessly work across dozens of languages and surveil workers.

The investigation found that American-made AI models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, have been used to build specialized software that enables scammers to target victims around the world. Scammers who purchased these tools took in tens of millions of dollars, according to blockchain analysis.

Lack of Incentives

Cybersecurity experts say that internet service providers, AI companies, and other tech firms could do more to prevent the abuse by scammers, but lack the legal, regulatory, and business incentives to do so. Some experts argue that these companies have the technical capacity to prevent abuse, but it would require them to spend money and resources.

Outside the US, some countries have introduced new regulations that require companies to do more to prevent scams, with penalties for non-compliance. In the US, lawmakers and government officials have been asking tech companies to cooperate voluntarily to cut scammers off from US infrastructure.

Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.