InFocus featuring Bentley University Professor Steve Weisman

from the 22 News plus studio. >> This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry. >> Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of In Focus. I am your host Patrick Barry. We're live in the 22 News Plus studios. remember the uh the uh the Nigerian prince who used to send you emails about 101 15 years ago that you uh you were one of uh the many people that may be available to inherit millions and millions upon dollars. Those were the easy scams. Scams have gotten so much more complicated nowadays. And sitting across the desk from me today is Steve Weissman. He is an attorney, a professor, and the creator of scam aside.com. and we're here today to talk about how scams are affecting you and some of the things that you can do to protect yourself. Steve, thank you so very much for joining me. I use that Nigerian prince thing because that was very sophisticated, you know, maybe like I said 10 or 15 years ago. You I'll tell you the interesting thing about that. It is less sophisticated now than Nigerians. If you looked at the letters and people still are getting these emails, they are you look at me go, who would possibly fall for this? Absolutely. >> And they're intentionally made ridiculous because they don't want to waste time with people they're going to convince. They want to get the people who are making the snap judgment uh that oo I can get this money and uh they're the ones that they're going to work on. So they they purposely make them more ridiculous now. And they're but the your standard run-of-the-mill everyday scams are getting much more complicated, >> so much more sophisticated. And a lot of that is is due to artificial intelligence. It's a combination of artificial intelligence is being used by scammers and scammers who were not particularly sophisticated. I remember at one time years ago uh Interpol said there were only about a hundred cyber criminal geniuses. I called them the Lex Luththers. Now anyone can use AI and get a level of sophistication. And there actually are special AI for criminals that are you can find on the dark web. maybe you and I won't find on the dark web, but are used to uh create websites, uh to make deep fakes, all kinds of things. So, yeah, if as like we always say, things aren't as bad as you think. They're far worse. >> Much worse. >> So, how when it comes to AI scams, what are some of the things people should be looking out for? Because I mean, we see it every day in the news. You see celebrities, politicians, what looks like a real speech, real video, real endorsement, not even close to being real. >> So, how do you know what what are some of the things to look out for when it comes to AI scams? >> Well, it's it's what we call zero trust. You you at this point, you cannot trust what you see. You know, I've seen uh some indications of with less sophisticated deep fakes, uh they will say that you you may even see an extra finger or look for this lighting or whatever. >> My my sense is no, those don't work. There are some programs that people can use and these are in the early stages of being able to have uh deep fake detector apps that you can use, but essentially it has to be zero trust. I'll give you an a good example from uh just a couple of weeks ago. Uh there were Instagram uh videos of Jazelle Bunchon and she was >> Oh, Tom Brady's old wife. Y >> uh she was giving away a special face cream. All you had to do was pay for the the shipping and uh total scam. It wasn't her. it. I saw the deep fakes and I would never have been able to distinguish it as as being fake. And what of course there was uh nothing gets delivered. You only pay that you know that9 or 14.99 or whatever it is. >> And it was a riot because I'm looking going well you know how much money can you make from that? They got arrested. Uh they had already taken in about $4 million. Uh, and that's the thing you what you have to do in something like that is, okay, it's Jiselle Bunchon. The same type of thing was done uh with Taylor Swift giving away some free cookware. So, you don't trust your social media. You go to the website of the celebrity. If they are actually doing something, they're going to promote it. You're going to find it there. So, you you've got to confirm. And then you got to make sure when you're confirming uh that you know that you're getting the right thing and you can't trust your AI. So you know if you ask if you ask Siri or Alexa uh for uh the customer service number or uh what's the website for Taylor Swift? What they're going to do is they're going to they harvest from the internet and give you the answer. And what I what I found is that the the scammers are going on chat rooms and others with their phony websites. They only need about 200 of those to fool AI. And again, AI is not perfect. I tell my students, yeah, you know, where where does AI get its information? The internet. Well, good. Thank God there's nothing wrong on and false on the internet. You you mentioned a couple of times something called deep fake. Explain to me what a deep fake is. Deep fakes are videos of people. What happens is uh the the scammers are able to use programs. Uh they're deep fakes and voice clones. So they're able to use programs that will take video of a person and for the uh the voice cloning uh their their voice. And I've seen some as little as 30 seconds. You know, they'll say now you get a phone call and they ask is it you? Don't say yes, it's me. because that's enough time that isn't enough time to really do a voice clone. But it doesn't take more than about 30 seconds for these programs. And there are some that are rel relatively sophisticated. There are others uh that aren't. But these programs will then allow you to program in that person saying whatever you want them to say. This is used by we we mentioned Nigerian prince. Yeah. There's a super organized, sophisticated group called the Yahoo Boys in Nigeria and they have been running massive scams on on all kinds of levels. They're doing romance scams now, but in the past you would never see the person that you're having the romance with, >> but now you can because it's all artificial intelligence generated per people. >> Yeah. They're going to look exactly like the person they're portraying. there's going to be no hint of any kind of a Nigerian accent and so you just you you can't you can't trust and you talked about the you know where is this being done the the grandparent scam or the family emergency scam you get the call in the middle of the night you know first of all they harvest information the I used to love the big bang theory >> yeah Sheldon's grandmother he used to call Mima so Mima gets a call in the middle of the night mima it's me, Steve. Now, how do they know it's Mima? Because they've gone and harvested, again, AI makes it easier through social media of the grandchild. Here's a picture of me and Mima. Then they're able to clone the voice of that grandchild who says, "I have an emergency." So, they know who you are. They know information about you, and it looks and sounds exactly like that person. Wow. Uh, folks, we're up on our first commercial break. If you're not scared yet, just wait. We'll be back after this. This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry. This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry. Welcome back everyone to this edition of In Focus. We're talking about scams and how to protect yourself. Steve Weissman is across the desk from me today. Steve, thank you so very much for joining me. I appreciate your time. Uh, we talked about AI and deep fakes. Is that sort of the norm now for scammers to utilize technology to to steal your money or your identity? Well, you know, everything it's uh scam artists, the only criminals we call artists. And uh, interestingly enough, it's across the board. So some of the the biggest data breaches that we've had haven't been sophisticated technologically. They've been what we call social engineering. Uh the hackers, they will call up the HR department or tech department and they will somehow using psychology convince someone to give them access, change a password. They pose as they pose as a a worker and then just convince them to get in there. So, uh, some of the the biggest data breaches, the MGM data breach, >> uh, was not technologically sophisticated, called in, posed as an employee, I need to change my password and, uh, they were able to do that. But >> wow, >> on the the flip side of that, the technology has gotten so sophisticated and we have this what we call a uh, a new business model. these cyber criminal geniuses who create the sophisticated malware they can use and the delivery systems and all of this uh and the websites they go on the dark web and they lease this to other less sophisticated criminals. So very very sophisticated technological scam equipment and the deep fakes and all all can be done for you as the less sophisticated criminal. So it opens it up for anyone to be able to use it. So yeah, the the answer is it the the technology is is making the scam so much worse >> and and it's it's hard to stay on top of it, you know, even for, you know, you and I or younger folks who have, you know, who are mentally active all the time. But I I fear for the older adults who, you know, aren't as, you know, don't have the mental acuity they once had, you know, and then they they fall for things that, you know, that they that normally they wouldn't have. Yeah. And, you know, you're entirely correct on that. And here's the thing, because uh I've studied for years why people fall for scams and intelligent people falling for scams. Um, we can also, by the way, who do you think falls for investment scams more, men or women? >> Men. I mean, that that's sort of like a softball question because you think men are more attuned to, you know, investment but than women. Very sexist comment. I apologize, but you just kind of I think naturally, >> but it's absolutely correct and by far men, we look at that shiny new uh investment and object and we go for it. women are a bit generally more conservative and not falling for it and taking the time is important. But when you talk about seniors, um there was studies done at the University of Iowa and UCLA uh that show there's a part of our brain as we age that deals with skepticism that becomes less viable. So indeed they are more trusting and uh they will fall for scams that they may not have younger. However, the the second most scammed group are my college students, Gen Z, and that's because they're just too trusting because they're, "Hey, technology is what I do. I'll click on this link." >> So, is that where technology is helping the scammers? They they they scan online data and say, "Okay." and they seek out people that are maybe age 70 and older or age, you know, under 21 to target those groups and kind of leave out the middle, everybody's going to get going to get hit. But you're you're absolutely correct. And now uh with AI, it makes the harvesting of information about people so easy. So, when you get my uh my son-in-law plays in a uh an Eagles tribute band, okay, and I love the Eagles. >> If I get if I get a a a email about something doing with the e Eagles, >> I'm apt to trust it. I may click on a link that I shouldn't click on a link. And that's what they do is and that's the difference between with the technology now and then. We used to get the fishing email. And the fishing email was general uh something and you know it may not have even had your name on it. Uh wasn't specifically oriented. >> Are you interested in this pair of shoes? >> Yeah. Or even I got one I I was at a destination wedding. I remember years ago in Las Vegas and I got a uh fishing email about my account with Citizens Bank and there were problems and I go, "Oh my goodness." And then I realized not being the smartest bulb uh I don't have an account at citizen it was just sent everywhere but now they gather so much information about you that >> it is going to be from my bank it is going to have my name it is going to have things information about me that makes me tend to trust it and uh that's the real dangerous thing that's why we have to go to zero trust if you're asked for personal information if you're asked to make a payment Uh if you're asked to click on a link, you can't trust anything, >> right? Yeah. Double check it. Triple check it just to make sure. Like we said earlier, you know, if it's a celebrity endorsed thing, go to the celebrities website or social media pages because they're going to be pushing it if that's exactly the case. >> Um >> big things in the news, you know, scammers take advantage of that. You know, the government shut down this fall. Yep. You know, scammers are taking advantage of that. how we've got, you know, right now you've got the government shutdown. You also have uh began October 15th and is going through December 7th, uh the uh Medicare open enrollment. So, whatever is going on currently, they are there. Uh you talk about first responders, when there's a natural disaster, they will always be there before the before FEMA. But when you're looking at the shutdown, uh there are a lot of uh emails and text messages people are getting about suspended benefit programs. You need to click on this link. You need to provide this information. And here again, there's a part of our brain called the amygdala. And the amygdala was developed in early evolution. And it was the the fight orflight to make a decision instantaneously in an emergency. And that's fine when you need to there's a rustle in the bushes. I got to jump away before that sabertooth tiger gets me. So here the thing is the emergency could be there's a problem with your bank, there's a problem with your social security check. The flip side of it is here's a great investment opportunity that's going to go away in minutes unless you respond. So people >> drop that uh thoughtfulness process and they respond and they get into trouble. So when you get any kind of an email, a text message about a uh a problem or asking for personal information or clicking on the link regarding uh the shutdown there again you can't trust >> anything big in the news. >> Yeah. And truly and you know with with Medicare uh we have and Medicare is complicated stuff. I remember I was a client of mine is a a financial planner. He advises people with all of their finance and he turns 65 and he goes, "I don't understand this. How how does this this work?" And understandably so. So people can be confused and you're going to get contacted if there was a change. If you are on Medicare and there was a change in your plan, you would have already been contacted by your insurance uh company a month before this. But people will get contacted. you don't know the two things the two places to go are one is the Medicare website and it really it really is good okay >> and you can look in there for plan finders and what's available to me and you can get something the other thing is all of the states have what they call SHIP uh and it's it's an acronym uh for not sure what it is but the idea is uh this is a nonprofit corporation that helps helps people around the country for free work through Medicare and insurance programs. So, uh you go to ship.org and you'll be able to get that information, but you can't trust what you what else you get. We are up on our second commercial break. We're here with Steve Weissman talking about how you can protect your uh identity and your finances. We'll be right back after this. >> This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry. This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry. Welcome back to this edition of In Focus. I am your host Patrick Barry. Sitting across the desk from me this morning is Steve Weissman. He is the creator of scamasside.com, a website you should probably go to fairly regularly to protect yourself, your money, your identity, and so forth. and we're talking about all of that this morning. Steve, thanks again for joining me. Uh, one of the things we had kind of alluded to a little earlier on uh was cryptocurrency. It's, you know, for those of you who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, and I'm not really I know like the tip of the iceberg, but I know Steve knows more about it. What is cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrencies are nongovernmental currencies, and so they're largely unregulated. what they It's interesting how they evolved because initially it was a way of uh transferring uh value uh for international trade without having uh all of the attendant costs that you would get uh generally if you were switching currencies and moving currencies internationally, but it's it's taken off. Um I'm not a fan of cryptocurrency investments, but we could we could talk >> that's a whole another segment. >> Yeah, it it it really is. However, it's here and it's here to stay. And one of the things with cryptocurrencies are there's a great deal of anonymity. So, when you have scammers, uh they they would prefer uh not to have your credit card. They'll go for your credit card, but they like gift cards which can't be traced. They like wired money which is then quickly uh laundered somewhere else. and they love cryptocurrencies uh because they are able to be uh kept anonymous. Interestingly enough, uh our FBI has gotten so much better better than really any other law enforcement in actually tracing some of these. And this is where the the criminals will get money transferred into a cryptocurrency. What and then they'll bounce it into another cryptocurrency and then they'll divide it into a different cryptocurrency. So the laundering process, the more steps you take, but what now we're seeing with criminals is they will Well, I I'll give you an example of a of a scam. Uh you know, right now, uh there's a letter, a good old-fashioned letter that >> snail mail letter you get in your mailbox. >> Yep. This one's from the United States Supreme Court and it's signed by Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor telling you in its great Supreme Court stationary and it's addressed to you uh directly uh that your name and social security number has been used in a drug crime. Uh your assets are going to be frozen. you're going to get a call from the Justice Department or the Social Security Administration uh to correct this situation and you would better do this or you're going to lose all of your assets. This is followed up by a phone call and if you look on your phone uh for caller ID, it will appear to come from the FBI or Social Security Administration. You need to protect your assets because your assets are going to be frozen. So, withdraw your money. go to a cryptocurrency ATM which is looks just like a regular ATM. You put money into it and send it to they give you a QR code you scan in and it goes into the wallet of the uh of the scammer. In this case, they're telling you it goes into a government wallet for safekeeping. So for anything that's as soon as it comes up with gift cards or cryptocurrency, question mark should come up. Yeah, it it is a sad commentary that the IRS on its website actually writes we don't take gift cards. Uh because you know and that's too many people are >> yeah people are just going to to fall for that again without thinking and it's it's the emergency. So these cryptocurrency ATMs uh have been used by criminals so much and there's a profit margin for these companies that are doing it. There's legislation that's been proposed, but it's a long way out in uh nationally in Congress. But some states, like most recently Louisiana and Arizona, have put in their own regulations, which are pretty good. If this is the first time you're using one of these cryptocurrency ATMs, they can have a 72-hour in one of these states hold on it because often people realize they've been scammed, but not right away. also limits on the amount of money that can be uh uh transferred on initial and early accounts. So this is coming. >> Let me ask you you cryptocurrency ATM. I think of an ATM is like you know I go to my bank there's a you know I insert my card I punch my pen in. Is that what a similar very similar is a cryptocurrency there standalone machines in places? If you saw a cryptocurrency, if you walked by a cryptocurrency at ATM, it would look just like your regular ATM. And that's why people are comfortable using this. I tell you story. There was a uh a popup ad. There's a problem on your computer to an elderly guy in Waltham, Massachusetts a few weeks ago. Um he has to give $12,000 to Microsoft to fix this do this by the uh the cryptocurrency ATM. He had the good fortune to be going to a cryptocurrency ATM in front of a convenience store where a Waltham offduty police officer was who sees this guy going an older guy going over with a lot of cash >> talks to him getting ready to load it into that ATM and tell shows who he is and gets him to be saved. Unbelievable. Thank god that offduty officer was there or that gentleman would have been out 12 grand >> and got it back. Well, and not only that, they probably would have come back and said, "You know, now ow us more because they know this guy's vulnerable." Yep. Let's get Let's make things even worse. What some of the scammers will do is after you've been scammed, they have what they call sucker list. You will get a call. >> We found that you were scammed. Uh we are we're the firm of the government or we're a private organization. We can help you get that money back. Here's here's how much money we need just to do our job. It's not as bad as you think it is. It's only worse. Right. Steve Weissman, thank you so very much for joining me today. Fascinating conversation. My pleasure. Thank you. >> This is 22 News in Focus with Patrick Barry.