The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is using AI to expand its financial fraud and human trafficking operations, forcing victims who think they're doing legitimate work to commit fraud and access other people's financial information.
According to a new INTERPOL report, Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel is using artificial intelligence to expand beyond drug trafficking into financial fraud and human trafficking operations. The cartel uses AI to enhance various fraud schemes including impersonation, romance scams, tech support fraud, advance payment scams, and phone fraud. The criminal organization forces people who believe they are working legitimate jobs to commit fraud and access victims' financial information. INTERPOL identified the most common AI-enhanced frauds as impersonation, romance scams, tech support, advance payment, and phone fraud. Specific examples include timeshare scams targeting beachfront property owners, where scammers claim to have buyers willing to pay thousands more than the original purchase price but require upfront payments for taxes and processing fees. One victim of the timeshare scam lost over $1,000,000. The report notes that European, Asian and African crime groups are also adopting AI for similar criminal activities. The scams often exploit human vulnerabilities like greed and loneliness, with simple tactics like unsolicited friendly text messages asking 'How are you?' to establish rapport before proposing money-making opportunities.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed