Email Scams Are Getting Trickier With Invisible AI Tricks

You know those annoying scam emails that land in your inbox? Well, they're getting a bit smarter and harder to spot, thanks to a sneaky trick involving Artificial Intelligence (AI). Cybersecurity experts have found that scammers are now using a clever technique that was once just a research idea. They're hiding certain words, like 'funding' or 'invoice', within emails by using invisible characters.

Imagine writing an email, but secretly embedding tiny, unseeable characters right in the middle of a word. A person reading the email wouldn't notice a thing; the word looks perfectly normal. However, the software that's designed to filter out spam and scams – often powered by AI itself – can sometimes be tricked into reading these invisible characters. This makes the spam filter think the word is harmless, allowing the dodgy email to slip through into your main inbox.

This isn't about AI creating the entire scam message, but rather about using a specific AI-related vulnerability to bypass defences. Essentially, the scammer uses this trick to 'split' a suspicious word in a way that our spam filters miss, but our eyes don't. It’s a bit like a magician’s trick, where what you see isn't quite what's actually there, but in this case, it's designed to part you from your money.

For everyday Australians, this means we need to be even more vigilant about the emails we receive. Don't rely solely on your email provider's spam filter, as these new techniques can sometimes get around them. Always be suspicious of unexpected emails asking for personal details, promising too-good-to-be-true deals, or demanding urgent action. A quick double-check of the sender's address or calling the supposed sender on a known number (not one provided in the email) can save a lot of heartache. Stay sharp out there!