BBB Experts warn about scams surrounding new A.I. ChatGPT

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A new artificial intelligence technology is at the forefront of more scams that experts say are making it harder for you to know if you’re being scammed out of personal information and money.

ChatGPT is a conversational artificial intelligence model that can do just about anything.

“For example, say you’re drafting an email and you want it to recreate the email in a more condensed version, you can put it in there. It even brags that it can create poetry. You can record a meeting and put in the notes and it will give you the whole transcript of the meeting, so all in one technology piece using A.I. to recreate a human experience so that way you think you’re talking to a human or receiving something from a human,” said Denise Groene, Vice President, BBB KS Region.

Cybercriminals and scammers are now taking advantage of its capabilities, through phishing, malware, romance and impersonation scams.

“A lot of times these scammers are using the act of urgency to create you to act without allowing you the opportunity to think things through, so if something seems off you have that gut feeling maybe it’s the grandparent scam where they say your grandchild needs money immediately, that they’re in trouble. Instead of going ahead and acting fast and sending the money, call up your grandchild,” Groene advises.

Experts at the Better Business Bureau say setting up two-factor authentication can help protect you from these types of scams.

“It’s an extra layer to where if somebody does get access into your account, or your click on a malicious link in a phishing email there’s another layer such as entering a code that’s gonna come to your phone to make sure that no one can gain access to your accounts,” said Groene.

Experts say those precautions are important as A.I. is expected to grow.

To learn more about ChatGPT and how to protect yourself from scams related to it click here.

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