Beware of AI-related online scams: ROP

Observer Web Team

Published: 12:26 PM, Apr 18, 2026

Muscat: Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned that financial scams that continued to take place are not necessarily by hacking but through fraudulent calls. phishing and fake messages.

The ROP said, "These scams don't necessarily come through hacking, but via a random message or a fake link that arrives at a very opportune moment. "Scams today are not what they used to be. They've become more accessible, smarter, and sometimes speak in a voice you recognize and trust, " ROP officials said in their podcasts.

"The online scam, instead of being perpetrated by individuals, is now carried out by transnational criminal organizations. For example, "A message arrives for a specific person such as update your bank details immediately, or your account will be suspended."

Currently, no government or official institution contacts anyone via Google Meet or Zoom type platforms.

As soon as the link is opened and the screen is shared, the victim fells into the trap of deepfaking. Mostly such scams take place around the time when the victim is searching for a specific product, the officials siad.

Regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence, the scammers can use AI to impersonate a well-known figure.

ROP stressed that people should not share banking information with any party, person, or entity.

Deepfake is a form of AI that can be used to create convincing hoax images, sounds, and videos. The term 'deepfake' combines the deep learning concept with something fake.

Deepfake compiles hoaxed images and sounds and stitches them together using machine learning algorithms. As a result, it creates people and events that do not exist or did not actually happen.

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