Scams and crimes involving Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been on the rise, with most scams occurring in e-commerce, including potential business deals, proposed partnerships, job offers, and offers to provide technical support, according to the latest Cyber Signals report on AI-assisted scams issued by Microsoft.
In its most recent report, Microsoft stated that in the past year alone, it has thwarted $4 billion in fraud attempts and approximately 1.6 million bot sign-up attempts per hour. Between April 2024 and April 2025, they have prevented $4 billion in fraud attempts, rejected 49,000 fraudulent partnership enrolments, and blocked around 1.6 million bot sign-up attempts per hour.
The report noted, "An increase in cyber-attacks involving AI has been observed as AI has lowered the barrier to entry, allowing even low-skilled attackers to create sophisticated scams, ranging from deepfake-driven phishing to AI-generated sham websites mimicking legitimate businesses." The report also added, "With AI, tactics that used to take scammers days or weeks to create can now be done in minutes." Precautions that need to be taken include avoiding falling for "limited-time" deals and countdown timers, clicking on verified advertisements and to be sceptical of social proof as scammers can use AI-generated reviews, influencer endorsements, and testimonials to exploit trust.
The report warned that job applicants are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and should take precautions when applying for jobs, attending interviews, and accepting job offers. Employers should never ask for personal or financial information, payment for a job opportunity, or communication via unofficial channels.
The report also mentioned that AI has made it easier and cheaper for fraud and cybercrime actors to generate believable content for cyberattacks at a rapid rate. AI software used in fraud attempts ranges from legitimate apps misused for malicious purposes to fraud-oriented tools used by bad actors in the cybercrime underground.
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