These are the 2 words that indicate that an email is a scam, according to the FBI

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)) has made a public service announcement warning of the dangers of fraud that takes advantage of certain tragic events to deceive with supposed charity campaigns. Cases like when scammers impersonate disaster relief organizations or celebrities soliciting donationsattempting to exploit tragic events such as the ‘New Year’s Day Terrorist Attack’ in New Orleans and the recent wildfires in Los Angeles.

‘In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received more than 4,500 complaints who reported approximately 96 million dollars in losses due to Fraudulent charities, crowdfunding accounts, and disaster relief campaigns‘ says the FBI.

In its statement, the agency explains what are the warning signs to look for in a phishing email of these characteristics and cites two words that, in all likelihood, point to it being a scam.

Emergency formulas are a clear signal

One of the clearest scam signs, according to the FBI, is using the expression ‘act fast’ or ‘act fast’or other than induce urgency on the victim to prevent them from thinking too much and detect errors that make them suspicious and not fall into the trap. These emails should be closed immediately because, unless they are sent by someone you trust, they are probably a scam attempt.

Microsoft It also has a similar notice on its support page, noting that users should ‘be wary of emails and messages from Teams that claim you should click, call, or open an attachment immediately. Often, they will claim that you must act now to claim a reward or avoid a penalty. Creating a false sense of urgency is a common trick in phishing and scam attackss. They do this so that you don’t think about it too much or consult someone you trust who could warn you.’ This recommendation is applicable to any type of phishing, not just that which uses solidarity response to disasters, natural or man-made, to scam.

How to avoid being scammed

‘If a message looks suspicious, it’s probably phishing. However, if you think it might be real, don’t click on any links or call any numbers in the message. Find another way to contact the company or person directly‘, has pointed out the Infrastructure Security and Cybersecurity Agency (CISA) of the United States, according to Forbes.

Other precautions to avoid being scammedaccording to the FBI, include examining the URL, email address, and spelling for errors, refraining from opening attachments from unknown people, and not clicking on unsolicited text messages or emails. ‘Remember that companies generally do not contact you to ask for your username or password’he warns.

AI in scams

However, the phishing problem is being seen aggravated with artificial intelligence tools that can help make a fraudulent email indistinguishable from a legitimate one. ‘Criminals exploit generative artificial intelligence to commit fraud on a larger scalewhich increases the credibility of their schemes,’ the FBI warned in another public service announcement last month.

The ability of AI to go through a human interlocutor makes it ideal for all types of scams, from spear phishing attacks and financial fraud to romance scams, investment scams, and other trust scams.

In November, a UK woman who fell in love with a ‘US Army colonel’ that he met in Tinder discovered that he was a ‘romantic’ scammer after he took more than $20,000 using AI-generated hyper-realistic videos.

This same month, the case of a French woman who lost $850,000 deceived by a scammer posing as an AI-generated Brad Pitt.