Tax season is underway and security experts warn that artificial intelligence is making it easier for even inexperienced fraudsters to fool their victims.
“With AI, they can craft emails that are so believable compared to years past,” Kaseya cybersecurity expert Miles Walker told Consumer Matters.
The Canada Revenue Agency has stated that generative AI is creating more sophisticated malicious content, which would have previously required significant knowledge, time, and resources to design. Walker says this year he expects to see a significant rise in AI-generated voice calls, which weren’t part of a cybercriminal’s playbook in the past.
“It’s become so much easier to generate those life-like voice calls and what they are doing is that they will send you to a call centre where you are going to be giving out information that you shouldn’t be giving out,” said Walker.
Walker also expects to see an uptick in scams after the April 30 deadline to file your personal taxes.
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“This year, more than any other, they are going to be looking at ways to attack you both before the April 30th deadline and after,” said Walker.
Common red flags to avoid being scammed include texts, voicemails, and emails created with a sense of urgency, a promise of large refunds, or a request to verify your personal credentials or banking information.
“Never click on any links and only go to the agency’s (CRA) official website,” said Walker.
The CRA is also reminding taxpayers that the agency will never send refunds or payments by e-transfer or text message, threaten to deport or arrest you or use aggressive and threatening language.
Walker also recommends people set up multi-factor authentication to add another layer of protection to personal devices and accounts. He’s also encouraging families to have an open dialogue around fraud.
“Have conversations with your parents. If you have kids that are at the tax-paying age, have a conversation about cybersecurity. They probably haven’t learned anything of this in school. When we are talking about older family members, they are the most vulnerable and that’s one of the prey that cybercriminals are looking to attack,” Walker added.
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