AI-Powered Phishing Scams Surge: Why Your Online Safety Is At Risk

The rapid advancement of AI in computer systems has also resulted in a troubling evolution in the tech landscape. Top cybersecurity experts warn that AI may be driving the recent surge in legitimate-looking phishing emails, targeting high-ranking corporate executives.

A Financial Times report highlighted a warning from e-commerce site eBay and global insurance company Beazley regarding the increase in fraudulent emails. They have expressed concerns not just about the growing number of these scams, but also about the detailed information contained within these emails. They believe that AI is analyzing people's online profiles, which scammers then use to create believable phishing emails. This makes it easier for them to trick users into thinking the emails are real.

"This is getting worse and it's getting very personal, and this is why we suspect AI is behind a lot of it," said Kirsty Kelly, chief information security officer at Beazley. She also added that they have started "to see very targeted attacks that have scraped an immense amount of information about a person."

Experts on cyber security have observed a rise in attacks coinciding with the rapid development of AI technologies. As these tools become more sophisticated to meet the demands of consumers and businesses, so do the methods employed by malicious actors.

AI bots could easily scrape voluminous data about a company or an individual, mimicking their style and tone to create scams that can easily deceive online users.

Moreover, AI not only collects information necessary for crafting the ideal scam but also analyzes the target's social media activity and online presence to identify topics that are likely to engage them. This intelligence is crucial to hackers, allowing them to tailor scams specifically to their victims rather than using generic, suspicious tactics.

Nadezda Demidova, eBay cyber crime security researcher, said that "the availability of generative AI tools lowers the entry threshold for advanced cyber crime," PYMNTS reported.

"We've witnessed a growth in the volume of all kinds of cyber attacks", she added, underscoring "polished and closely targeted" ones.

Kip Meintzer, an executive at Check Point Software Technologies, said that AI has enabled hackers to come up with "perfect phishing email."

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported that 90 percent of successful cyber attacks begin with a phishing email. Additionally, IBM stated in its annual Cost of a Data Breach report that the global average cost of a data breach was nearly $4.9 million in 2024, marking an increase of about 10% from almost $4.5 million in 2023.