Online scams are certainly not a new phenomenon, but the rise of artificial intelligence is radically changing the landscape of cybercrime. Today, what once took days of work can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes by malicious actors using AI-based tools.
A recent report from Microsoft has highlighted the alarming scale of the issue: just in the past year, the company has taken down around 500 harmful websites and blocked up to 1.6 million bot registration attempts every hour.
Vasu Jakkal, Vice President of Microsoft Security, believes that criminal groups have quintupled in the last 12 months, growing from 300 to 1,500. He attributed much of this increase to the spread of intelligent technologies, which have made it easier, faster, and cheaper to create fraudulent websites.
He explained to CBS, that today, anyone can purchase a full kit online to build a digital scam: some develop the software, others build the infrastructure, and others still host the website. Additionally, AI is not only used to generate content like product descriptions, images, and reviews, but also to create fake influencer videos that increase the credibility of sponsored pages.
One of the most insidious strategies, Jakkal continued, is domain impersonation: it only takes changing a single letter in the address of a real website to deceive the average user, who often does not notice the trap.
To counter these threats, Microsoft has enhanced its Edge browser’s protection, which now detects typos and alerts users to potential fraudulent sites, blocking access. The system uses machine learning algorithms to block threats before they reach the homepage.
Jakkal stated that the multinational’s goal is to intervene wherever there is a risk that someone could fall victim to a scam, by implementing digital barriers that help consumers stop and think before taking action.
Scott Shackelford, director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University, also recognized the company’s efforts but emphasized the importance of broader collaboration between the public and private sectors. In his view, the involvement of big tech companies in institutional partnerships would be a concrete signal of seriousness in the fight against cybercrime.
