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Cybersecurity expert Mike Piper says AI makes fraud cheap at scale

On Morningstar's The Long View, he says automated research lets attackers profile ordinary clients, so clean grammar no longer signals a fake email.

By the Practice management desk1 source

At a glance

  1. Automated research changes an attacker's economics, allowing a chatbot to assemble social-media posts, obituaries and published articles, then draft a convincing message.
  2. Grammar no longer flags a fake email, he said; an AI can produce a perfectly worded bank notice for someone who does not speak English.
  3. For advisors, AI removes the cheapest filter staff apply to inbound requests: verify callbacks with numbers already on file, not the email.

AI has made targeted financial fraud cheap enough to aim at ordinary clients, cybersecurity expert Mike Piper said on Morningstar's The Long View podcast.

Automated research changes an attacker's economics, allowing a chatbot to assemble social-media posts, obituaries and published articles, then draft a convincing message. Grammar no longer flags a fake email, he said; an AI can produce a perfectly worded bank notice for someone who does not speak English. Work once reserved for high-value targets can now be run at low cost against many people at once.

For advisors, AI removes the cheapest filter staff apply to inbound requests: verify callbacks with numbers already on file, not the email.

Reported by the Practice management desk from Morningstar — Financial Advice. Published . Corrections

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Cybersecurity expert Mike Piper says AI makes fraud cheap at…