Reported by Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer

Over the past two years, researchers at UK-based fraud-defense firm Netcraft used a chatbot based on Open AI’s ChatGPT to respond to scams and convince cybercriminals to part with sensitive information: specifically, banks account numbers at more than 600 financial institutions spanning 73 different countries that are used to transfer stolen money.

Overall, the technique allows threat analysts to extract more details about the infrastructure used by cybercriminals to con people out of their money, says Robert Duncan, vice president of product strategy for Netcraft.

As international fraud rings are profiting from scams — especially romance and investment fraud operating out of cyber-scam centers in Southeast Asia — defenders are searching for ways to expose cybercriminals’ financial and infrastructure components and shut them down. Countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, have embarked on partnerships to develop AI in ways that can improve cybersecurity. Using AI chatbots could shift the technological advantage from attackers back to defenders, a form of proactive cyber defense.

Personas With Local Languages

Netcraft’s research shows that AI chatbots could help curb cybercrime by forcing cybercriminals to work harder. Currently, cybercriminals and fraudsters use mass email and text-messaging campaigns to cast a wide net, hoping to catch a few credulous victims from which to steal money.

The two-year research project uncovered thousands of accounts linked to fraudsters. While Duncan would not reveal the name of the banks, the scammers’ accounts were mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom — likely because the personas donned by the AI chatbots were from those regions as well. Financial fraud works better when using bank accounts in the same country as the victim, he says.

The company is already seeing that distribution change, however, as it adds more languages to its chatbot’s capabilities.

Read full report: https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/ai-chatbot-fools-scammers-and-scores-money-laundering-intel