This conversation aired in the July 29, 2026 episode of Crosscurrents.
AI online scams are surging and getting trickier to spot. They've become so concerning that San Francisco has set up a city wide program to address the uptick. Here, we break down the hidden forces driving this sudden wave, who is most at risk, and the simple, low-tech habits that stop them.
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Interview Transcript:
HANA BABA: So a city setting up a whole anti-scam program, what is happening?
NEEDDRA JAMES: Yeah, it really tells you something about the moment we're in. The city is responding to a real rise in consumer fraud. The amount of money that's been stolen is pretty staggering. For example, PG&E's customers collectively lost over a quarter of a million dollars paying fake utility bills in 2025.
HANA: A quarter of a million dollars?
NEEDDRA: I know, that number —
HANA: For fake utility bills?
NEEDDRA: Yes, that number really makes you sit up in your seat — a quarter of a million. I mean, the average loss on a single fake PG&E bill last year was about $600.
HANA: Oh. $600.
NEEDDRA: And PG&E said they expect that that number is gonna go up this year, so they think it's gonna be closer to $1,000 by December.
HANA: $1,000 on a scam utility bill.
NEEDDRA: Mm-hmm, utility bill, the California Tax Board — all of them have been impersonated with fake documents mimicking the real thing.
HANA: Mm.
NEEDDRA: My sources say counterfeit documents in AI-generated media is one of the biggest problems in digital security. The global cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes, they regularly release a digital consumer scam report. And in June, they published data about how AI is really supercharging online fraud. Out of 1,500 people surveyed, 85% of them said that they can't tell what's real or fake anymore. I'm just gonna let that marinate, first of all.
85%. Now, that's essentially a 30% jump from the numbers that they calculated last year.
HANA: Right. I mean, I'm feeling it. I'm seeing it. It's... I, I can't tell sometimes what's real or fake anymore, but that's a huge jump in the number of people being fooled. So how are online scammers doing this?
NEEDDRA: You know, they are actually using all the usual channels, so phishing emails, that's an email that tries to hook you into responding to it or clicking on a link, um, pop-up ads, fake documents, messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
HANA: WhatsApp. Phone calls.
NEEDDRA: Exactly. The big difference is that AI-enhanced scams are rising because cybercrime today, it's organized. It has become a global multi-trillion dollar industry.
And there's another element that levels up the fraud market. So over the years, a hacking supply chain has emerged, and scam suppliers called fraud-as-a-service platforms, they've grown.
HANA: What's fraud-as-a-service? What does that mean, fraud-as-a-service?
NEEDDRA: Fraud-as-a-service. Some of them are subscription-based online platforms that sell the tools scammers and hackers need to commit cyber crimes, like fake login pages, stolen and fake personal data. They also sell deep fakes, you know, video and audio that mimic a person's face or a voice.
HANA: Ugh. Okay, so they basically turn the crime itself into a product that another person can buy and replicate.
NEEDDRA: That's exactly right. These platforms make it so easy for people who really don't have any coding skills to hack into systems, and do real damage. You know, they'll bundle all this stuff together into a kit for them. There's dashboards. There's —
HANA: Bundles? Like how Verizon and AT&T want you to bundle services?
NEEDDRA: Yes. I'm not kidding you. It's the same marketing strategy. So some platforms are all-inclusive, right? For about 120 bucks or so, a hacker can subscribe to the platform, and it'll bundle the entire cyber attack process.
HANA: See, all of these words you're using are just so... It's bundle, it's all-inclusive. The sales terminology they're using is just fascinating.
NEEDDRA: And one more thing that makes this so explosive is that personal data is super cheap, and it is everywhere. A scammer can buy your personal data for less than a dollar.
HANA: Less than a dollar. So it's already in the bundle.
NEEDDRA: It actually is already in the bundle.
HANA: So this is like a perfect storm. Cheap personal data, AI-generated fakes, and fraud platforms bundling scam tools. That's what's happening.
NEEDDRA: Yep, that's the combination. I spoke with Mark Beare at the cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes. His team published the AI scam report that I mentioned earlier. He explained to me how scammers use AI with stolen personal data:
MARK BEARE: You can dump all of that into your own model, and then build a personalized scam for each person tailored to their life, like where they live. You could talk about the weather where they are. You could talk about where they went to school. You could talk about their spouse's name.
HANA: NeEddra, their spouse's name? Their school? They're getting really personal, and this is really scary. And it makes me realize that we share so much about ourselves online.
NEEDDRA: Yeah, all the time. It used to be, too, that building a highly personalized scam, that took some real time, and it took some money, right? Scammers would only bother with wealthy targets.
One big fish.
But data you can buy for a dollar combined with AI — it made that personal touch cheap. Totally changed the economics of it. So it costs them almost nothing to come after a bunch of people at once. So now everybody's a target.
HANA: It's all of us. And that's unsettling, you know? So, are there differences in how people are targeted, or is it random?
NEEDDRA: Mm, that's a really good question. The data suggests it isn't random at all. So just like with the phishing kits and the bundles, these cyber syndicates are using other common marketing strategies like segmenting targets by demographics and using AI to personalize and automate the attack. Here's Mark again.
MARK BEARE: And in the case of elderly people, you know, once again, they've maybe put together a nest egg. They have a lot of family that they'd do anything for.
NEEDDRA: So imagine, you know, all this data is online and you're older, so there's just more records about you that have been digitized. And not everywhere is well secured, so stuff's just out there, and older adults are targeted with family emergency scams at a much higher rate.
HANA: The family emergency scam?
NEEDDRA: So you could think about it as all these scams are impersonation scams.
HANA: Uh-huh.
NEEDDRA: Just different flavors, right? So there's the romance scam, someone convincing you that they're in love with you, and now you've been sending them all this money.
HANA: Right.
NEEDDRA: Or there's the fake utility bill scam like PG&E. This one is a scammer using an AI voice cloning technology, right? All they need is a minute of video to replicate your kid's voice, because your kid's on TikTok all the time. Right? And then —
HANA: Where is this going?
NEEDDRA: They call the older adult and use the cloned voice and say, "I'm in trouble. Help. I need money. Please send me money." You know? They're in a really awful situation. Send the money immediately.
HANA: That feels like a deeper, more sinister level of, of fraud to me.
NEEDDRA: It really is because a lot of older people still have landlines. They have no idea where this is coming from. So an incredibly vulnerable population.
Now, here's a real twist, though. Older adults are not the most exposed group.
HANA: They're not?
NEEDDRA: No. So, what I've seen is that the impact in terms of financial loss, and even health cost, tends to be very high for older adults. But, they're not the most exposed to cyber attacks and these kinds of scams.
HANA: Oh, who is?
NEEDDRA: It's Gen Z.
HANA: Gen Z?!
NEEDDRA: Mm-hmm.
HANA: How? But, okay.
NEEDDRA: Two out of three Gen Z-ers said they've been exposed to an AI scam in the past year, highest of any group. Most time online, more exposure, right? More chances to be targeted. Cyber criminals — they find us where we are, and Gen Z, they basically live their lives on their phones.
HANA: Okay, so it's not about being, you know, naive or not knowing certain things in technology. It's really about just being online, being exposed.
NEEDDRA: That's actually the good news hiding in here. I know you were like, "Where is the light at the end of this tunnel?"
HANA: I'm waiting, NeEddra
NEEDDRA: So there are a few things we can do to reduce how much we're exposed.
HANA: Please give us these ways.
NEEDDRA: I have three. Okay. So the, the first, and this one is actually my favorite because it's so easy. It's a family code word.
HANA: A family code word?
NEEDDRA: Mm-hmm.
HANA: Meaning?
NEEDDRA: Meaning a word that only your family knows. So if you get that panic phone call, "It's me, I'm in trouble. Send the money," you ask for the word. No word, no money. Now, here's why that matters. 81% of people worry about a scammer faking their family's voice, but only 18% have set up a code word.
HANA: Okay. All right. So a code word.
NEEDDRA: A code word. Second thing, you gotta slow down. Scammers manufacture urgency, right? So either it's the urgency of, "Oh no, someone's in trouble," and you respond immediately. So your nervous system can really feel this shock, if you feel that panicked rush, hang up. Call the person or the bank back on a number that you trust.
HANA: This, I feel this because I wanna say in communities where English is not the first language, in many immigrant communities, and I know this from my community, that that neutral American kind of voice is one of authority and truth, and I better listen to them, right? And so they can be especially vulnerable, I'm feeling. So these are good tips.
NEEDDRA: You know, the third thing that I'll share is actually the technical ask. We gotta close the easy doors on our devices. Now, what that means is update your phone's operating system.
If you're that person that sees the little number notification indicating that there's something to update, update it. That usually means that some vulnerabilities have been fixed. When you don't update it, hackers just take advantage of that older, less protected software.
HANA: So don't delay when it comes up? 'Cause I mean, honestly, I do I think a lot of people do.
They're like, "Oh, here they come. What are they gonna be adding?" And there's a little paranoia too of like, "What are they gonna put now on my phone?" But now you're saying, "No, please update."
NEEDDRA: I'm saying update because it's good for security.
HANA: Okay.
NEEDDRA: Also, turn on two-factor authentication. What that means is you have one password, then you have another one on top of that.
HANA: Right. I see that one a lot.
NEEDDRA: And there's services you can use for that, like an app.
And then the last thing I'll say is please be stingy with your number and your email. Do not trade them for every $5 coupon that pops up, you know?
HANA: And everyone is asking us for our number and email. Whatever you wanna sign up for, whatever you wanna do.
NEEDDRA: You can create a junk email account. That's what I have.
HANA: And all of these solutions that you've said really don't require being a tech-savvy person. You can just do 'em.
NEEDDRA: Yeah. None of them do, actually. The thing that actually creates more security and more coverage for all of us is being closer to each other. The more we are in relationship, the fewer-
HANA: IRL.
NEEDDRA: Yeah — the fewer openings there are for us to get exposed. We don't control how the internet works, you know? And AI-enhanced consumer fraud is way bigger than what can be solved at the individual level alone. Fortunately, cities like San Francisco are starting to treat it like that and create integrated support for folks who do get defrauded.
HANA: At the beginning of our conversation, my stress level was up there, and I've relaxed. Thank you, NeEddra for those tips.
NEEDDRA: You are welcome. My pleasure.
