eBay and Beazley Reportedly Being Targeted by Advanced AI-Generated Phishing Scams

These phishing scams are reportedly personalised using AI bots.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 2 January 2025 14:46 IST

eBay and Beazley Reportedly Being Targeted by Advanced AI-Generated Phishing Scams

Photo Credit: Reuters

Basic security filters are said to not be effective against AI phishing attacks

Highlights

AI systems behind the attack have reportedly scraped data about employees
eBay researcher reportedly said that AI has made cyber crimes easier
AI is said to be used to write “perfect” phishing emails

eBay, the ecommerce giant and several other companies are reportedly witnessing an increased volume of personalised phishing attacks aimed towards high-level employees. As per the report, these phishing scams are being carried out using artificial intelligence (AI) systems to make them appear human-like and avoid the telltale signs of a typical scam email. These cyber attackers are reportedly also using AI to scrape and analyse data about company executives to add a personal touch to the messages. Basic security filters are said to be insufficient to stop such emails at an organisational level.

Company Executives Being Targeted by AI Phishing Scams

According to a Financial Times report, companies such as eBay and the UK-based insurance firm Beazley have highlighted the increase in fraudulent emails that contain personal information about their executive-level employees.

Kirsty Kelly, the chief informational security officer at Beazley, told the publication that AI is suspected to be behind these attacks due to the personal nature of the emails. Kelly reportedly also added that these targeted phishing attacks have likely been conducted after a large amount of data about employees was scraped from various sources.

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Notably, phishing scams involve tricking an individual into revealing sensitive and financial information by pretending to be a trustworthy entity. These are usually carried out over emails, text messages, or by sharing URLs to fraudulent websites. However, typical phishing attacks are impersonal and often include vague information and grammatical errors leading to a low success rate.

However, as per the report, these AI-generated phishing scams are different in a way that they both use highly emotive language and share personal information about the target. These emails can be more convincing and could trigger a positive response from individuals.

Highlighting that generative AI tools lower the barriers in carrying out cyber attacks, Nadezda Demidova, a cybercrime security researcher at eBay, told the Financial Times, “We've witnessed a growth in the volume of all kinds of cyber attacks.” She reportedly added that a particular area of concern was “polished and closely targeted” phishing scams.

The security researcher reportedly also explained that basic security filters which usually identify and block bulk phishing campaigns could struggle to stop AI-generated emails as even high-volume attacks can be carried out where each email is unique and appears to be sent by legitimate senders.

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Further reading: eBay, Beazley, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Online Scams, Phishing Scams

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More