The Fraudian Slip Podcast: National Cybersecurity Alliance – The AI Paradox: Smarter Scams, Better Shields - S7E5

Show Transcript

Below is a transcript of our AI paradox podcast with our special guest, Cliff Steinhauer of the National Cybersecurity Alliance 

Welcome to the Fraudian Slip, a podcast by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), where we peel back the layers of the latest scams, fraud and identity threats. I’m James E. Lee, President of the ITRC, and you may notice something different. We have finally decided to join the rest of the podcast world and turned on our cameras. You can see me and our guest, Cliff Steinhauer of the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA), one of the ITRC’s major partners.  

You can’t move around the internet or social media these days, or engage in just about any form of commerce, without running into artificial intelligence (AI). It’s only been three years since ChatGPT was released, launching the era of generative AI. Now we are rapidly moving into the next phase – Agentic AI.  

Like so many technologies, AI is agnostic. How it is used determines if it is a positive or a negative. Long-time followers know that we’ve been talking for years about the shift from identity theft to fraud to, now, scams, but the integration of AI has fundamentally changed the success rate of scams. Here is our chat with Cliff about the AI paradox. 

We Talked with Cliff Steinhauer About the Following: 

• We all know AI is making it easier to produce more sophisticated cat videos along with better emails and texts, but is that the extent of what we can expect from AI, or is there more at play here than just better phishing lures? 
• We used to tell people to look for bad grammar or blurry logos. If AI can now produce perfect prose and professional-grade visuals, what are the new red flags people should be looking for? 
• For many people, the nightmare AI scenario is the "family emergency" scam using a cloned voice. For a small business, it’s a “cheap fake” call from a business vendor asking for payment to a different bank account. How can a non-technical person distinguish between real and fake? 
• For family members who aren’t tech savvy or small businesses that don't have large security teams or budgets, what is the single most effective "analog" defense against these high-tech AI scams? 
• There’s a bit of a debate about whether this is a "fight fire with fire" situation. Are there AI tools or security settings we should use to help filter out these threats before they reach the inbox or phone? 
• What is your best piece of advice for maintaining "cyber-resilience" as these AI tools continue to evolve? 
• If someone has an “oh, no” moment and realizes they’ve just been duped by an AI-fueled scam—perhaps they sent money or shared credentials—what are the first steps they need to take? 

Thanks, Cliff, for joining us today to discuss the AI paradox. If you want to learn more about the NCA and the programs Cliff mentioned in the podcast, visit www.staysaeonline.org.  

Contact the ITRC 

If you think you have been the victim of identity theft, fraud or a scam, or you want to avoid becoming one, you can always speak with an expert ITRC advisor about your identity issues. We’re available via phone or text (888.400.5530), on our website to live chat or by email during our normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started.    

Please hit the like button for this episode and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Join us next week for our sister podcast, the Weekly Breach Breakdown. We will be back next month with another edition of the Fraudian Slip.