Special report
Deception in the AI Age
Financial scam losses hit $20 billion in 2025, a staggering 26% jump, and AI is the culprit behind the acceleration. What used to require massive call centers now runs on autonomous agents that test thousands of social engineering tactics simultaneously, constantly refining attacks in real time.
Scam victims authorize their own losses after passing security checks. Unlike fraud, which trips fraud alerts, scams exploit human psychology, making traditional defenses useless.
The Thomson Reuters Institute's inaugural financial scams report reveals three critical insights. First, scams and fraud operate differently and require different detection strategies. Second, criminal networks are now running industrial-scale operations from fortified labor compounds, where human trafficking fuels cybercrime. Third, and most troubling, liability is broken. Banks see transactions, social media sees relationship-building; telecoms see the manipulation, but no one actor has full visibility and control — yet banks shoulder all the liability.
Fixing this requires restructuring how responsibility is distributed across the ecosystem.
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