Bipartisan group of US senators have urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take full measures against the AI-generated tax scams that can put American taxpayers at risk. A letter was sent this week to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, signed by senators Maggie Hassan, Ron Wyden, Chuck Grassley, and James Lankford. It warns of this “emerging threat,” elderly, and small businesses in particular, to be especially alert of.
The senators relate the concerning report by Politico, which demonstrates how a cybersecurity expert, Sergey Shykevich, managed to use a ChatGPT tool to produce an example of a scam email, containing malware in this case, that is tailored to deceive taxpayers. These messages may seem very accurate, yet understanding the risks of providing personal and financial information is the key.
There is evidence from the IRS that scammers imitate legitimate sources with the objective of gain access to monetary and other gains. These schemes, even prior to AI tools, have been damaging to taxpayers and small businesses. However, AI technology has increased the realism in these malicious messages, so the risk for vulnerable Americans is even higher.
The senators want to know what the IRS is doing by the end of the month to ensure protection from cyber-attacks of this nature, including educating the public on identification of scams and the tools at their disposal to guard against scams.
ChatGPT has so far only produced a malicious message, however, it has the potential to create highly successful AI scams and to create malware, while the capability of producing a whole codechain is yet to exist.
Meanwhile, the warnings issued by the senators are very valid and demonstrate the importance of keeping an eye out for these scams and being careful when providing any personal information. The IRS can also introduce a protocol of informing taxpayers of any new techniques implemented by the agency to prevent these attacks from damaging American citizens.
