Allianz study shows:

White-collar criminals more successful thanks to AI tricks

In the "fake president" scam, they pose as supposed bosses and instruct employees to transfer sums of money for supposed business transactions to fraudulent accounts.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

According to a study, white-collar criminals are causing ever greater damage and are also becoming more professional thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). So-called "social engineering", i.e. attempted fraud in which perpetrators manipulate people, is particularly popular, according to an analysis published on Tuesday by credit insurer Allianz Trade. According to the study, however, the company's own employees are also responsible for a lot of the damage.

"The uncomfortable truth for companies remains: The weak point is people, and their own employees continue to cause the most damage and - at least until 2023 - also the greatest damage," said Marie-Christine Kragh, expert at Allianz Trade.

External perpetrators divert payment and goods flows in payment and order fraud. In the so-called "fake president" scam, they pose as supposed bosses and instruct employees to transfer sums of money for supposed business transactions to fraudulent accounts. The number of cases of these crimes rose by 17% in 2023 compared to the previous year and the volume of losses climbed by 19%. The number of cases involving the "fake president" method increased by almost a third.

"We expect the claims volume for companies to more than double in 2024," said Kragh, Global Head of Fidelity Insurance at Allianz Trade. This indicates that fraudsters are further professionalizing their scams thanks to AI tools - with an even more targeted approach to employees and companies.

With the rapid development of AI tools, "deepfakes" are likely to become an ever greater threat to companies in the future. "A few years ago, voice cloning was still something for absolute specialists and the quality was often questionable," explained Tom Alby, responsible for digital transformation at Allianz Trade in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "Today, thanks to AI tools, it's practically available 'off the shelf' at the touch of a button." This opens up completely new horizons for fraudsters - "they need fewer and fewer skills for really well-crafted attacks".