Social media scams are up 700%. Here's how to stay safe.
2026-05-13
TheBlaze
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Mastercard's AI-powered fraud detection system, deployed with major UK banks, has significantly reduced scam-related losses by predicting and blocking fraudulent payments. Conversely, criminals are increasingly using AI to conduct sophisticated social media scams, resulting in billions in losses, particularly in the United States.[AI generated]
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly states that AI is being used by criminals to carry out more sophisticated social media scams, which have already caused billions of dollars in losses to users. This indicates direct involvement of AI systems in causing harm (financial theft) to people. The harm is realized and significant, fitting the definition of an AI Incident. The article also provides advice on how to avoid such scams, but the primary focus is on the harm caused by AI-enabled scams, not just general information or future risks, so it is not Complementary Information or an AI Hazard.[AI generated]