In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the popularity of chatbots – intelligent programs capable of interacting with users through text or voice messages. While these technologies can serve useful purposes, they are also abused by scammers who use automated messages to deceive people.
Smart scammers always adapt to new technologies to bypass security measures and exploit users' trust. The emergence of chatbots has played into the hands of many malicious actors, as they allow automating the process of interacting with victims, significantly increasing the scale of fraud.
Scam via Automated Messages
Fraudulent chatbots often use automated messages to create the illusion of communication with a real person. These bots can mimic friendly conversation and show interest in the interlocutor. They are often used for various scams, such as investment fraud, phishing, and selling non-existent goods or services.
Every year, scammers become more sophisticated: they use psychological tricks, manipulation, and pressure to make the victim surrender their money or personal data. A chatbot can conduct a conversation at a pace convenient for the scammer, allowing them to process many victims simultaneously.
Fake Bots in Telegram
Telegram – one of the most popular communication platforms, is where scammers actively implement fake bots. Many users, including large companies, use Telegram for prompt communication with their clients. However, scammers increasingly create fake accounts that mimic the functionality of real services.
Fake chatbots in Telegram may offer various «services»: from employment assistance to obtaining loans or investing in financial instruments. They attract users with promises of quick money or attractive conditions and use large-scale mailings to reach as many people as possible.
At the same time, requests to the user usually become more and more insistent. Scammers create a false sense of urgency, pushing victims to make quick decisions before they have time to think about the consequences.
Deception with AI Bots
With the development of artificial intelligence technologies, perpetrators are starting to use AI bots to create even more realistic and intelligent deception schemes. These bots can process large volumes of information and adapt to user responses, making their interactions significantly more natural.
Artificial intelligence allows scammers to generate texts that are difficult to distinguish from human ones, making them especially dangerous. They can use data found on the internet about the victim to create personalized messages, increasing the likelihood of a scam's success.
It is important to note that such AI bots can be used both to form romantic relationships and to involve victims in complex financial fraud schemes.
Bot Scams in Social Networks
Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and VKontakte have become a field for fraudulent operations using chatbots. Often, fake pages or groups are created, attracting people with enticing content. Using chatbots, scammers can process customer inquiries, offering them to participate in races, lotteries, or promotions with prizes.
This approach allows scammers to respond quickly to user inquiries, creating the illusion of interest and trust. Schemes designed to collect personal data are particularly dangerous: scammers may persuade users to provide information that is later used to steal personal data or access financial resources.
Messengers have almost become the main means of communication and correspondence, which in turn has led to the flourishing of automatic scams. Scammers set up bots to send mass messages containing links to fake sites or offers of scammed goods with vouchers.
Such fraud can take different forms: from simple offers to buy cheap goods to complex financial schemes designed to convince the victim to invest money in non-existent projects. Feedback systems can be fully automated, allowing perpetrators to save time and resources.
How Fraudulent Bots Work
Understanding how fraudulent bots work is not as simple as it may seem at first glance. However, the basic principles of their functioning are well known.
Using algorithms and scripts. Fraudulent bots are programmed to follow pre-established scripts. They can adapt to user responses, but their main goal is manipulation and information gathering. Simple technologies, such as message templates or scripts, are often used to provide basic interaction, but most of the work is done by programs
Collecting personal data. Scammers use chatbots to collect personal data, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, bank card data, or account information. For this, surveys or questionnaires may be used, or they may appear as «games» that, under the guise of entertainment, ask for as much personal information as possible.
Conclusion
Scammers use bots to automate deception and scam thousands of people simultaneously. Never trust «easy money». Scammers can use both simple and complex deception mechanisms. It is important to remember that the goal of scammers is to build trust, lure the victim, and extract money.