Charles Hoskinson noted that AI has been of great benefit to the crypto industry and other industries, but it also allows fraudsters to use more sophisticated methods to prey on victims, such as impersonating online influencers.
Cardano’s creator said that one of his subscribers shared an email in which a scammer posed as Hoskinson, promoting a blockchain-based medical project. He tried to trick users into giving him ADA coins. It turned out that the scammer used generative artificial intelligence to create the email.
“A reminder that I will never email you directly. Every day scammers cover for me, trying to steal money from you. If you think you are communicating with me, ask the person to verify their identity with the signature from my PGP key. They can’t do it,” Hoskinson tweeted.
According to Cardano’s founder, AI fraud in the crypto industry is becoming increasingly common, which proves the seriousness of the problem. Hoskinson expressed concerns about the progress of generative AI, mentioning the creation of realistic human simulations using it. This is what hackers use, creating convincing videos and audio with famous people to promote fraudulent schemes. Hoskinson called this trend “the future of cryptocurrency. He expects users to lose millions of dollars over the next 12-24 months from such scams.
“It’s getting pretty absurd, but with the development of generative AI, every month there will be hundreds of victims duped by fake audio and video. Next year, when the scammers sharpen their skills, the losses will be in the millions of dollars. It’s all about greed and stupidity,” Hoskinson added.
Recall that back in 2021, Hoskinson accused social media platforms Twitter and YouTube of publishing videos from scammers posing as Cardano executives. The Cardano founder claimed that the platforms were profiting from these fake videos.