Cybercriminals operate alone or in groups, and their most common goal is to extort money or data. “Another, rarer group of cybercriminals simply seeks fame and recognition from others,” the interviewee laughs.
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Basic knowledge is enough
Worldwide, criminals operate in large groups. Groups can function as businesses or even organizations, constantly looking for new team members and offering collaboration. Individual criminals can carry out less sophisticated attacks – sending emails, writing messages.
Nowadays, increasingly advanced artificial intelligence helps security engineers detect cyberattacks faster and automate certain processes, but it also greatly benefits criminals – it writes perfect, logical emails and automates certain actions.
“I would like to emphasize that it is very important to use artificial intelligence responsibly, because some users share certain sensitive information unknowingly. Such data, appearing in artificial intelligence, becomes easy prey for scammers,” says the specialist.
But how do scammers operate? Do they need deep IT knowledge, or is basic knowledge enough? L. Apynis reveals that when scammers target individuals, understanding psychology or basic IT knowledge is sufficient, but when targeting organizations or the public sector, groups have enough cybersecurity and technical knowledge.
What gives away that it is artificial intelligence?
In Lithuania, phishing dominates – fraud via emails aimed at harming both individuals and companies or organizations. Data reveals an increase in phone scam calls, investment scams, romance scams, and advance payment frauds.
Many scammers also use artificial intelligence. Although it is increasingly advanced, the Lithuanian language is still not sufficiently developed, so scammers try to deceive people by creating artificial images. The specialist recounts when a foreign organization lost a huge sum of money simply because the chief financial officer was deceived by an AI-generated image: “He was invited to an online meeting, and seeing his colleagues, he transferred money to the scammers without hesitation.”
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The interviewee urges caution. An AI-generated voice usually lacks emotions, and a fake image is betrayed by an asymmetrical face and strangely moving eyes. “Although scammers do not target a specific age group, older people often suffer, from whom large sums of money are extorted, as well as young people, who are targeted through digital platforms,” says L. Apynis.
Two new fraud methods
According to the specialist, scammers target everyone. Their created bots scan the internet looking for security vulnerabilities, and once found – they attack, so often not only large but also small organizations suffer.
Currently, new fraud methods are becoming especially popular. One of them is recruitment. Scammers look for public contacts of certain company employees and then try to recruit them by offering money in exchange for the company’s client data. “Even with the best security solutions, the human factor remains a risky boundary,” says L. Apynis.
According to him, fraud methods remain the same, but techniques constantly change and modernize, many of them “coming” from abroad. QR codes are becoming increasingly popular. “This method became popular a few years ago. Scammers send deceptive emails pretending to be company representatives, but instead of links, they use an image and a QR code. Scanning the QR code opens a fake page, and money is extorted this way,” reveals the interviewee a new fraud method.
Tactics, according to L. Apynis, often repeat themselves: urging to make a certain order or payment faster, intimidation, and various manipulations. “I would advise never to rush to transfer money or provide data. Upon receiving an email, always check it – read the information, verify the sender, see if such a company really exists, and if money or important logins are lost, immediately contact the bank and the police,” says the interviewee, recommending following all security measures.
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