How to spot an AI scam (a plain guide for you or someone you love)

If you have had a message that felt urgent and a little bit off — a call from a grandchild in trouble, a text from your bank, an email about a parcel — you are right to pause. Scammers now use AI to sound more convincing than ever. The good news: the tricks are old, only the polish is new. Once you know the shape of them, they are easier to spot, not harder.

What AI actually changed

For years, you could spot a scam by the clumsy spelling and the odd phrasing. AI has taken that clue away. A scam email can now be word-perfect. Worse, AI can copy a voice from a few seconds of audio — a video online, a voicemail greeting — and use it to make a call that sounds like someone you know.

So the old advice ("watch for bad spelling") no longer works on its own. The advice that still works is about what they ask you to do, not how polished they sound.

The three things every scam needs

Almost every scam — AI-powered or not — leans on the same three levers. If you see two or three of them together, treat it as a scam until you've proven otherwise.

1. Urgency. "Act now." "Your account will be closed." "I'm in trouble and I need it in the next hour." Urgency is designed to stop you thinking.
2. A change to how money or details move. A new bank account to pay into. A gift-card code. A request for a password, a PIN, or a one-time security code.
3. A reason you can't check right now. "Don't tell anyone." "I've lost my phone, this is my new number." "The line is bad." They need to keep you from calling the real person.

The AI voice-cloning call

This is the one worrying families most, so let's be specific. You get a call. It sounds like your son, your daughter, your grandchild. They're upset. They've had an accident, or they're in trouble abroad, and they need money fast — and please don't tell Mum.

Here is what to do, calmly:

• Say you'll call them straight back, and hang up.
• Call them on the number you already have saved.
• If you can't reach them, call another family member who can.
• Agree a family safe-word in advance — a simple word only you know. If a panicked call can't give the word, it isn't them.

The voice may be perfect. The story will still fall apart the moment you check it against reality.

Messages, emails and "your parcel is waiting"

For texts and emails, the same rule applies: don't tap the link. Go to the company yourself — type the address you know, or use the app you already have.

• Banks will never ask you to move money to a "safe account". That instruction is always a scam.
• A real delivery company won't need a fee unlocked by clicking a link in a text.
• If an email address or web address is almost right but slightly wrong, that's a red flag, not a typo.

If you think you've been targeted, report it — reporting helps stop the same scam reaching someone else.

If you think you've already been caught

First, breathe. It happens to careful, intelligent people every day — that's the whole point of the trick. Then:

• Call your bank straight away on the number on your card and tell them.
• Change any password you gave away, and any you reused elsewhere.
• Report it (in the UK, Action Fraud; in the US, the FTC — links below).
• Tell someone. Scammers rely on shame to keep you quiet. Talking about it protects the next person.

You did nothing stupid. You were targeted by people who do this all day. Knowing the shape of the trick is most of the defence — and now you do.