INDIANAPOLIS — A new FBI report shows Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making it easier for criminals to steal your money and your identity.
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In 2025, the FBI received more than 22,000 complaints tied to AI-related scams, with reported losses totaling about $893 million.
AI-linked investment scams alone accounted for more than $632 million in losses, according to the report.
Thomas Hutchings of Fort Wayne has experienced these AI scams firsthand. He runs businesses with his wife.
“We have rentals for the Fort Wayne Housing Authority, and we had enough savings that we decided to build a home, a containerized home,” said Hutchings.
Hutchings received an email about his container home from the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals, including an attached $4,900 invoice for his application review, fees and assessment.
“I read the whole thing, the email, and thought it was really suspect,” said Hutchings. “We had already paid our $500 fee to the, to the county. I went ahead and went back in and examined the email addresses that it was sent from, and it wasn't from .gov or .in.gov or anything.”
In fact, the email was actually from a “USA.com” email address.
“I called the county immediately, and they said, ‘Oh no, this is a scam,’” said Hutchings.
Hutchings did not fall for it, but many people do.
The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report shows the FBI received 32,000 complaints about government impersonation scams totaling $798 million in losses.
Kara Kenney with Indiana’s I-Team sat down with Timothy O’Malley, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge of the Indianapolis office.
- Kenney: It’s like we are under attack.
- FBI: You are, bottom line. You’re under attack every day.
The bad guys are using AI to make their attacks personal, like the scammers knowing Thomas Hutchings had a container home.
They’re also using AI to compose realistic texts, emails, calls, and voicemails, as well as using it to clone your voice.
“They can pull voices off of social media; they can pull voices from phone calls,” said O’Malley. “They can generate a whole conversation just with a very short sample of someone's voice. They can generate through AI a very legitimate-sounding duplicate or clone of that person's voice to say, 'Hey, this could be a call to a grandparent.'”
For example, a grandparent receives a call from a person that sounds like their grandchild in trouble—but it’s actually an AI-cloned voice.
The FBI report ranks Indiana 12th in the country in complaints filed per citizen.
“I think we're a target-rich environment,” said O’Malley. “We have a population of people that are generally trusting. Very happy to see that our reporting is up. That's not a negative thing, that's a very good thing. Our folks know what to do.”
AI-related scams are getting cheaper, better and more widespread.
“It's a volume game,” said O’Malley. “If you get one out of 100 out of 1000—they're successful.”
- Kenney: What is the FBI doing about this problem?
- FBI: Number one, we're doing things like this; we're talking to you, we're talking to the public, we're trying to get the word out. We investigate this stuff, and we try to pull people accountable. When we identify folks who are scamming others, we pursue this very heavily.
Thomas Hutchings says AI is eroding our trust, so you can no longer trust what you see and hear.
“Don't click on anything if it's you've heard if it's too good to be true,” said Hutchings.
TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF:
- Verify Directly: If you get a suspicious email, text, or phone call (even if it appears legitimate), hang up or ignore it. Go directly to the source by calling a known, trusted number, or check the agency's website independently.
- Establish a Secret Safe Word: Scammers can clone a loved one's voice using just a short audio clip from social media. Create a unique code word or phrase with your family to verify any emergency distress calls.
- Never Pay via Untrusted Methods: Avoid wiring money, buying cryptocurrency, or purchasing gift cards to pay off sudden demands or "emergencies".
- Use Defensive Tools: Consider using protective software or mobile applications like Truecaller to block and filter scam calls and texts.
- Limit Social Media Details: Scammers use AI to mine public posts for hyper-personalized information to make their scams believable. Tighten your social privacy settings and limit what you share.
