AI-fueled scams target job seekers
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Cybersecurity experts are sounding the alarm about a rise in fake job offers by scammers. Experts say the scammers are using generative AI to make these fake job listings sound realistic. "245,500 people approximately got scammed last year," said cybersecurity strategist for GuidePoint Security, Paul Keener. He added that he's seeing an alarming rise in the number of fake job offer scams, according to newly released reports. "From 2022 to 2023, there was a 25% increase in these types of scams, the job scams…we're expecting it to go up about the same, if not more, because of the scope and scale of generative AI," Keener said.
Keener says scammers are able to use generative AI to make these fake job offers look very real. "With generative AI, it makes it very, very simple to create an effective email. All you have to do is put in the prompt. ‘I need a job that says it’d be this type of experience, this type of person and make it sound friendly. Make it sound like it's coming from this type of organization,’ whether it's a financial organization or technical or something along those lines," Keener said.
Another reason for the increase, he says, is the continuing rounds of layoffs, especially in the tech sector. Those recently laid off, Keener says, are most vulnerable. "Those in a situation where maybe they don't have enough, they don't have a whole lot of savings in reserve in order to give themselves some time to find an appropriate role, and they need something right now," Keener said.