AI Scam
Trends 2026
Deepfakes tripled. Voice clones need 3 seconds of audio. $442 billion lost globally. Here's what's targeting women, seniors, and job seekers right now — and how to fight back.
per year
deepfake videos
who lost money
by 2027
Romance Scams, Deepfake Abuse
& Targeted Manipulation
Romance & Pig Butchering Scams
Scammers build emotional trust over weeks, then pivot to manufactured crises or fake crypto platforms. Women are the primary target — 70% of convicted romance offenders specifically targeted female victims.
Sextortion & Deepfake Image Abuse
AI creates fake compromising images from public social media photos. 98% of deepfake videos online are pornographic and 99% target women. Victims are threatened with release unless they pay.
Stalkerware & Digital Surveillance
Software secretly installed by partners monitors location, messages, calls, and cameras. Reports surged 780% during the pandemic. Often intersects with domestic abuse situations.
Fake Giveaways & Shopping Scams
Fake beauty brand promotions, "vote for my child" phishing links, and counterfeit product ads on social media — all designed to harvest credentials from everyday online activity.
Voice Clones, Deepfake Celebrities
& Retirement-Draining Fraud
AI Voice Cloning & Grandparent Scams
Just 3 seconds of audio can clone a voice at 95% accuracy. Scammers call as "grandchildren in trouble," triggering immediate emotional responses that bypass rational thinking.
Deepfake Celebrity Investment Scams
AI-generated videos of Elon Musk, financial experts, and doctors promote fake crypto platforms. Seniors with retirement savings are the primary target. One victim lost $690,000.
Recovery Scams — The Double Hit
After being scammed, victims are contacted again by criminals posing as law enforcement or government agencies offering to recover stolen funds — for a fee. AARP warns this will surge in 2026.
Tech Support Scams
Fake pop-ups and phone calls claim your computer is infected. Seniors are asked to grant remote access, leading to drained bank accounts and stolen credentials. Growing 35% year over year.
Task Scams, Fake Recruiters
& The Gig Economy Trap
Task Scams — The #1 Job Fraud
Victims are told to rate products or boost apps, see fake earnings on a dashboard, then must "deposit" their own money to withdraw. Reports jumped 485% in 2025. Average loss: $9,456.
Brand Impersonation
Amazon is the #1 impersonated employer (30%), followed by remote work agencies (29%), USPS (17%), and UPS (17%). AI makes fake job postings and company websites indistinguishable from real ones.
Cryptocurrency Deposit Traps
Job platforms require crypto deposits to "unlock" earnings. Losses to crypto from job scams hit $41M in the first half of 2024 alone — nearly double all of 2023. Recovery is virtually impossible.
Layoff-Fueled Targeting
1.17M workers laid off in 2025 — the most since the pandemic. Scammers exploit desperation with unsolicited texts offering flexible remote work. 39% of Americans received a fake job text in 2025.
How We Got Here
500K Deepfake Videos Online
Deepfakes begin appearing in romance and investment scams. Voice cloning tools emerge on the dark web. First wave of grandparent scam AI attacks documented by FBI.
Arup Loses $25.6M to a Deepfake Video Call
Engineering giant Arup targeted by an entire fake video conference — every person on the call was AI-generated. Deepfake losses start reaching hundreds of millions. Task scams explode, accounting for 40% of all job fraud.
8 Million Deepfake Files. $1.1B in Losses.
Deepfake videos grow 900% year-over-year. Romance scam losses hit $1.16B in 9 months. Task scam reports surge 485%. Voice cloning needs just 3 seconds. 1 in 4 Americans receive a deepfake call.
AI Bots With Emotional Intelligence
Experian forecasts automated romance scams run by AI agents with high emotional IQ. KnowBe4 predicts deepfakes become "the majority of how scams are done" by end of year. Projected losses: $40B by 2027.
What Catches What
| Threat | Google / Apple Filters | Antivirus Software | Cautellus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Known phishing URLs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Suspicious message text analysis | Partial | ✗ | ✓ |
| Behavioral manipulation detection | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| AI-generated image detection | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Deepfake / fake receipt analysis | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Reverse image search for profiles | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Works on any device / platform | ✗ | Partial | ✓ |
| Free, no install required | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
I was a single mom at one point in my life. When you're living on one income, every dollar matters — it's your rent, your groceries, your kids' future. There's no room for a scammer to take what you've worked so hard to build. That's why I created Cautellus. When money is everything, you have to be extra safe.
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⛨ Scan Something NowReport sources: FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, FBI IC3, AARP, Hiya State of the Call 2026, Norton Research, BBB Scam Tracker, CNC Intelligence, Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Feedzai, Deloitte, McAfee, SurfShark, Experian, DeepStrike