SINISTER criminals already stealing millions through sophisticated frauds will use artificial intelligence to ramp up their theft, a top Garda warns.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan says the growing volume of investment fraud which has seen €13.5million taken already this year is frightening.
He told the Irish Sun: “These criminals are very, very good. They have very good backstories. They put a lot of work and a lot of effort into defrauding these victims.
Investment fraud occurs when criminals pose as investment managers to fool people into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist.
Over €28 million was stolen from investment fraud victims in Ireland last year – more than in 2021 and 2022 combined.
And the rampant rate of fraud has continued to rocket this year – with cops admitting the reported figures are just the tip of the iceberg.
In an interview with the Irish Sun, Detective Superintendent Cryan, of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, told how tech-savvy crooks are taking advantage of victims through social media adverts and cloning webpages.
And Det Supt Cryan fears the scams will escalate further as fraudsters increasingly deploy AI to dupe victims.
He told us: “The concern is AI will become a major issue in the future.”
New figures show over 1,117 people reported incidents of investment fraud between January 2020 and August this year, 44 per cent of which mentioned ‘Bitcoin’ or ‘Crypto’.
Men are increasingly becoming the victims of this type of fraud and remain most at risk.
The majority of victims in the past four years have been male, 64 per cent, and those aged over 40 make up over half of all victims.
But amid the dramatic rise in investment fraud, Det Cryan admitted the situation is even worse than the reported figures.
He told the Irish Sun: “It is a major worry. It is staggering the amounts being stolen and that is what is being reported. There is always a lag in these reports because it takes victims some time to realise they are victims, so the reports we are getting now are still of ones which occurred last year.
“So we really won’t have the full figures for this year until well into next year.”
Gardai urged anyone who has been a victim in the past or who has more recently become a victim of investment fraud to come forward.
Non-reporting issues
Det Supt Cryan said: “With all frauds, there is an issue with non-reporting. But I think this is a crime which people are embarrassed to report, people are afraid people will say, ‘How stupid are you?’ But these people are deceived, these people are conned.”
The leading cop highlighted how fake online ads had even used high-profile politicians.
A deepfake crypto scam ad utilised footage of former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with artificial intelligence voiceovers.
Leo, who warned of the dangers of deepfakes, was forced to come out and declare: “‘I’m not selling crypto.”
Fake ads
Another social media ad used Tanaiste Micheal Martin’s image and name to promote financial products.
Fianna Fail leader Martin recently launched a High Court action against Google after ads appeared which suggested that he was endorsing cryptocurrency companies.
The Tanaiste discovered the fake ads using his image to promote cryptocurrency scams originated in Russia and Belarus.
Det Supt Cryan sounded the alarm over the growth in fake social media ads.
TIPS TO AVOID INVESTMENT FRAUD
- Do not invest money until you get reliable financial and legal advice
- Check the regulatory status of the company via the Central Bank of Ireland webpage
- Do not respond to pop-up/social media ads or messages with claims about investment returns
- Ignore unsolicited approaches or cold calls about investments
- Beware of celebrity-endorsed investments – they may not even know that their name is being used
- Be careful of cryptocurrency, bank bonds and hedge fund investment opportunities that present unusually high % returns
- Be wary of fake wallets for storing your cryptocurrency – these can be scams for malware to infect or control your computer
- Do not click on links for webpages that you don’t know and always check that the site is HTTPS secured
- Never allow anyone remote access to your computer or download Apps that can give others control of your computer – ‘AnyDesk’ is one example
- Take your time to consider before sending or transferring any money – get a second opinion from a friend, family member, colleague if not a financial advisor
- Never disclose personal data or bank account passwords or codes.
He told the Irish Sun: “You see manipulated ads on social media, purporting to be prominent politicians talking about how they invested in X or Y and have made lots of money.
“Other ads say they don’t want the public to know this because they don’t want everyone to make money out of it. We know the Tanaiste had to go to the High Court to get orders to try and find out who was paying for these ads.
“So a lot of it comes from social media, there are pop up ads, there’s all sorts of advertisements.
“But then you have cloned websites where people may go on and look for investment opportunities.
“They are very shiny and glossy, they look well.”
Social sites
Det Supt Cryan continued: “At the moment it is more the advertisements and photographs where they are showing a particular person, purporting to be an interview with them. Many people believe that once they see an ad on social media, the same checks and rules are there as in ordinary traditional media.
“So they believe the ads. When you see ads on radio or TV, you believe there are checks and balances there. On social media, there isn’t. You just put up an ad for anything and it’s there.”
Almost half of the investment fraud reports relate to crypto currency.
‘Still rising’
But despite major garda awareness campaigns, cops fear investment fraud is going to become an even bigger issue.
Det Supt Cryan told us: “Last year we saw €28million reported. That was more than the previous two years put together. This year at the moment we are on €13million. The figures are high and this is despite all the media campaigns that we do and all the information that is out there.
“So it is still rising and that is the unfortunate thing. The fraudsters are coming up with new MOs and new strategies to target people.
And it is a concern. It is a concern where this money is going and what it is being used for as well.”
