Artificial intelligence is helping scammers create online traps that can look and sound real. The technology can be used to imitate a person’s voice or face and produce convincing-looking documents, making it harder to tell a legitimate message from a fraud.
That growing sophistication is colliding with a gap in basic cyber awareness, according to a new NordVPN study. Nearly half of Americans surveyed rated their cybersecurity confidence as high. Yet 74% could not identify a fake URL, 82% failed to spot a fake CAPTCHA pop-up and 71% said common sense was enough to protect them from online scams.
That mismatch matters. Scams often aim to steal personal or financial information — and a single misstep can put bank accounts, credit cards or online accounts at risk.
Don’t let a convincing message rush you
Before clicking a link, check the web address carefully. Be wary of unexpected messages that pressure you to act, and don’t assume a familiar-looking logo, voice or face proves a request is genuine. If a message claims to come from a bank, business or someone you know, contact them using a phone number or website you already trust — not contact details in the message.
Treat unexpected CAPTCHA pop-ups with caution, too. Don’t enter passwords, payment details or other sensitive information after following an unfamiliar link. Use unique passwords for important accounts and turn on multifactor authentication where it’s available.
Clicked a suspicious link? Here’s what to do
A click alone does not necessarily mean your device is compromised, NordVPN’s Gerald Kasulis said. The next steps matter — especially if you entered information or downloaded something.
If you shared banking or personal information, contact your bank promptly and explain what happened. You may need to cancel a compromised card. If you entered a password, change it immediately anywhere you used it; use a new, unique password and secure the account with multifactor authentication if possible.
If you downloaded a file, stop interacting with it and run a security scan using trusted security software. If you’re unsure what to do next, contact your bank or a reputable technical-support professional through an official channel.
The key is to pause before responding. In an era of increasingly convincing AI-generated scams, a message that looks or sounds real still deserves a closer look.
Editor’s note: The supplied script spells the NordVPN representative’s name two ways — Gerald Casillas in the introduction and Gerald Kasulis in the quote attribution. Confirm the correct spelling before publication.
