Are AI scams the biggest fraud threat yet?

In our latest episode of Good Question, I sat down with Angela Diaz (Discover) and Michael Coomer (BHG Financial) to explore one of the biggest questions in fraud today: Are AI scams the biggest threat yet?

Both leaders emphasized a grounded reality: AI is changing the fraud landscape, but not always in the ways headlines would have us believe. The real story is in how scams are being scaled, streamlined, and made more convincing.

Familiar tactics, new scale

The tactics themselves are not new. What’s different is how AI and automation can magnify their reach:

• Love bombing and constant communication. As highlighted in Netflix’s Love Con Revenge, scammers overwhelmed victims with daily selfies and video messages. AI and automation could now replicate that same strategy at scale, generating synthetic videos, voices, or texts to sustain 24/7 manipulation.
  
  
• Fake professions and false documents. Some romance scammers claimed to be doctors, lawyers, or soldiers, even displaying fraudulent diplomas or paperwork. With generative tools, creating “official” documents or credentials has become faster and harder to detect.
  
  
• Fabricated narratives. Generative models can produce backstories, tragedies, or urgent investment pitches that feel eerily consistent and plausible. For victims, the line between truth and fabrication is becoming harder to parse.

Impact on victims

Michael pointed out that AI is not just changing how fraudsters create fake artifacts, it is changing the reality victims perceive.

When communication is constant and immersive, when documents look official, when stories hold together seamlessly, it becomes far more difficult for a victim to see through the deception. This is why education and awareness, in addition to detection, are so critical. Documentaries like Love Con Revenge help mainstream these conversations, reducing stigma and helping victims realize they are not alone.

What financial institutions should watch

Angela emphasized that scams do not always show up as anomalies inside the bank. Victims often authenticate normally, move money through familiar channels, and pass verification checks. That makes external awareness essential.

However, there are still patterns worth watching:

• A long-term customer suddenly sending daily wires.
  
  
• Dollar amounts steadily increasing over short periods.
  
  
• Transactions that do not align with historical behavior.
  
  

These signals are not new to fraud teams, but AI can supercharge how quickly and accurately they are detected. By layering AI-driven models on top of foundational controls, institutions can catch suspicious shifts earlier and intervene before losses grow.

Using AI as defense

Both guests agreed: while fraudsters will use AI, the bigger opportunity is for fraud fighters to use AI better.

• For Angela, that means using AI to analyze vast data sets, spot behavior shifts, and automate investigative tasks.
  
  
• For Michael, it is about reducing reliance on subjective judgments and giving fraud teams scalable, consistent tools for document review and scam detection. “Inaction is worse. You may not want to risk creating friction, but failing to act means allowing scams to deepen.”

The bigger picture

Fraud is always a cat and mouse game. What is shifting now is the speed and scale at which both sides can operate. Fraudsters are experimenting with generative tools, but financial institutions have the chance to stay one step ahead if they combine foundational fraud knowledge with AI-driven innovation.

At the end of the episode, both leaders left us with powerful reminders:

• Lead with empathy. Fraud victims are often manipulated into believing the unreal is real.
  
  
• Stay proactive. Do not wait for AI scams to become mainstream in your portfolio. Start preparing now.
  
  
• Strengthen your foundation. AI tools are powerful, but they cannot replace missing internal controls.

Because when it comes to AI scams, the best defense starts with asking the right questions.

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