But even phone scams are evolving, said Gogolook co-founder and CEO Jeff Kuo.
He warned that AI-generated voices are making phone scams increasingly sophisticated, allowing criminals to impersonate company executives or even family members.
He said Gogolook is using machine learning to identify suspicious calling patterns, helping it detect potential scam numbers even as criminals frequently change them.
“As scammers use AI-generated voices and increasingly convincing scripts, identifying suspicious numbers and warning users before they engage is becoming even more important,” he said.
The GASA report also highlighted the challenges of preventing repeat victimisation, finding that 51 per cent of respondents who lost money had been scammed more than once.
While AI could help authorities and technology companies identify and monitor suspicious activity more efficiently, Abraham cautioned that criminals can adopt emerging technologies without facing the same legal and regulatory constraints as legitimate organisations.
“Scammers are not limited by law or licenses. They use whatever they can get. So (while) we can use AI for good to identify scams, to automate monitoring, it (alone) will not solve the problem,” he said.
TECH FIRMS URGED TO PRIORITISE TRUST OVER TRAFFIC
Technology firms say they are strengthening safeguards against online fraud.
Meta’s security policy manager Rima Amin said the social media giant is stepping up efforts to detect and disrupt scam networks, including through greater cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
“(When) we take down a network, we look at the tactics the scammers were using that our proactive detection didn’t catch. Then our teams take those learnings and build them back into the products, so that we can defend and prevent in the future,” she told CNA during the summit.
