Did you get a call from a government official? It might be an AI scam.

Most people receive scam phone calls on a weekly basis, and usually they are just minor inconveniences. But now the FBI is warning that bad actors might be ratcheting up their scams in a new way: by using artificial intelligence to impersonate federal officials. As scammers can reportedly use AI programs to trick unsuspecting Americans, the FBI is urging people to exercise caution.

How does this scam work?

Scammers have impersonated "current or former senior U.S. federal or state government officials" to "target individuals," said the FBI in a public service announcement. These scammers use AI to create voice messages that "claim to come from a senior U.S. official to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts." The FBI did not mention specific names of U.S. officials who were being impersonated.

The scammers may also send text messages posing as government officials. The FBI calls these smishing and vishing scams. Smishing is "malicious targeting using text messages," while vishing "uses audio messages that may include AI-generated voices," said USA Today. These are similar tactics to phishing scams perpetrated via email. If the scammers obtain your personal information, this contact information could be "used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds," said the FBI.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

How can you protect yourself?

It is "unclear what the end goal of the hacking effort is or who is behind it," but AI tools have "made it far easier for scammers and spies to impersonate the friends, relatives and colleagues of just about anyone," said CNN. To protect yourself, you "should be skeptical of unsolicited content featuring public officials," said Newsweek.

The FBI has provided some specific instructions about how to avoid becoming a victim of these scams. The most important step is to "verify the identity of the person calling you or sending text or voice messages." Before responding to the message, you should "research the originating number, organization and/or person purporting to contact you." If a voice message is left, you should "listen closely to the tone and word choice to distinguish between a legitimate phone call or voice message from a known contact and AI-generated voice cloning, as they can sound nearly identical," said the FBI.

But even the FBI admits that AI-generated content has "advanced to the point that it is often difficult to identify," and urged people to "contact your relevant security officials or the FBI for help" if you're not sure. The best way to protect your information, though, is to "never share sensitive information or an associate's contact information with people you have met only online or over the phone." You should also not send "money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or other assets to people you do not know."

This is not the first time that foreign scammers have worked to undermine Americans. Throughout the 2024 presidential election season, scammers would "create content designed to deceive Americans," said NBC News. Russia was notably accused of "masterminding two sprawling influence campaigns aimed at influencing American voters."