Another week, another threat of cybercrime. Amazon issued warnings to its Prime customers to be on the lookout for scams after a recent surge in incidents. These scams vary. Many involve either calls or emails in which the cybercrooks indicate something has gone wrong with a recent order, payment, or the overall account. 

For all the world, these emails or calls will seem legitimate in appearance and presentation (for example, the person on the other line will sound professional). Also, they will often have SOME level of personal information which will make them seem even more legit. You might be prompted to give your password, or you might be directed to a website which looks exactly like an Amazon page. You know the score from there. 

One reason for the rise is AI. As we’ve talked about before, AI changed the game for cyberattacks. Consider the power of AI to: 

  • Create realistic phishing emails and texts.  No longer can you spot hackers’ terrible grammar or laughable mimicry of company logos.  The fake phishing emails you receive can look exactly like the real ones 
  • Develop sophisticated fake websites.  The websites to which you are directed look like the real thing.  And with the aid of AI, they take very little time and effort to set up. 
  • Automate scam operations.  Maybe you’ve been playing with AI to make your business more efficient.  Hackers have done the same thing, using AI engines to streamline attacks, find targets, and automate processes. 
  • “Clone” voices for phone scams.  Did you hear about the woman from Florida who got scammed when hackers cloned her daughter’s own voice? Scary. The same thing happened recently at the very highest levels of government. This is cheap, sophisticated technology. 

As we always say, scammers aren’t only targeting “big fish.” However, big fish breaches are far more newsworthy…thus, why you hear about them. This lulls SMB owners into thinking they are not targets. You ARE a prime target. It is EASY for scammers, especially in the age of AI, to target you. It is very much worth their effort. It is a story we hear over and over again from prospective clients – we didn’t think hackers would care about little ‘ol us, and now we need your help to dig out of this cyber catastrophe. Bottom line: you are probably not paranoid enough about your cybersecurity.  

If you don’t have robust cybersecurity measures in place (Norton and McAfee aren’t even close to sufficient, by the way), or if you don’t have a trustworthy IT Managed Service Provider watching your back, your digital doors might be wide open for crooks to walk right in.