CHICAGO (WLS) — The ABC7 I-Team is warning of a new scam called social scraping. You might want to think twice before putting too much personal information on Facebook, Instagram, or X.
ABC7 revealed how criminals troll social media to obtain detailed personal information and use it to scam you and your family. Now, they use artificial intelligence to facilitate the execution of their plans.
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BioCatch’s digital behavioral analysts explained to the I-Team how it’s happening. BioCatch’s Jonathan Frost says scammers are using AI to quickly gather information.
“So that’s the thing about super-efficient people: They don’t get lazy, they don’t get tired. They work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” Frost said. “Criminals are using the same kinds of technology that legitimate companies are using to improve their fraud operations. They’re also using it to make it much easier for criminals to collect information, process it, and format it into a format that convinces them they actually know more about you than they should.”
BioCatch says its 2025 report shows a 65% increase in global fraud. When malicious actors use information, it is often found on social media accounts.
Your mother’s maiden name, dog’s name, and favorite restaurant can all be collected by scammers to impersonate you. They can then run kidnapping scams or car accident scams to trick your loved ones into sending money.
“Fundamentally, scammers are always concerned with urgency. They always try to create a situation where common decency does not apply,” Frost said.
In 2024, the I-Team showed how AI can be used to stitch together voices from social media to create fraudulent calls.
Technology experts at Transaction Network Services used AI to clone audio from ABC7 I-Team Consumer Investigator Jason Knowles’ news stories and tested it with customers at a local cafe.
“I think any form of unexpected approach should be treated with grave suspicion, whether it’s through a social media messaging platform, an unexpected connection request, or an unexpected phone call,” Frost said.
Always be careful about what you post on social media and avoid oversharing. Also, if you receive a scam call like this and you think a relative or loved one is in danger and are asked to send money, there is no need to panic. Hang up and call your loved one back yourself to check. You should always have a safe word to weed out these types of scams.
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