Peter Griffin: Turning the tables on scammers with the help of chatbots

Peter Griffin’s consumer tech columns appear fortnightly on listener.co.nz

We all like to think we are savvy enough to avoid falling into the clutches of a scammer, but the numbers tell a different story.

About $200 million is lost to scams in New Zealand each year. The New Zealand Herald showcased some of the biggest individual losses in April, when it looked at the cases of 25 scam victims who had a total of $6.7m stolen from them. Only $700,000 was recovered.

The amounts stolen ranged from $40,000 to a massive $1.4m and mainly saw victims lured into fake investment schemes. They were duped into transferring large amounts of money, in the hope of receiving a huge return on their “investment”.

It’s embarrassing to fall victim to a scam that starts with a text message or Facebook chat from a stranger. That’s why official figures for scam-related losses are just the tip of the iceberg.

The latest New Zealand Crime & Victims Survey (NZCVS) from the Ministry of Justice shows that 11% of New Zealanders were victims of fraud or cybercrime in 2023. When it comes to reporting crimes to police, fraud and cybersecurity has the lowest reporting rate at 10%. That compares to 57% for vehicle offences, 42% for burglary and 33% for interpersonal violence.

Smooth-talking criminals mastermind these scams, but the initial approach is often via an email, text message, phone call or chat message. With the rise of conversational artificial intelligence (AI), scammers are programming chatbots to strike up initial conversations, hoping their robots are convincing enough to hook some victims. Then they will usually step in to carry on the conversation and work their charm on the victim.

Be wary of group chat messages

Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram group chats are increasingly being targeted by scammers. If you are a member of such a group, particularly one focused on investment advice, be very wary about responding to any direct messages sent to you offering financial advice or investment opportunities. It’s quite likely it will be a chatbot’s opening gambit to a scam.