Artificial intelligence-generated frauds such as deepfake media shall potentially increase risks of identity theft, phishing scams, and cyber bullying among children, cybersecurity solutions firm McAfee has said in its predictions for 2024.

“From phishing emails so real that even the experts will have trouble telling fact from fiction to deepfakes that could impact everything including the future of our children, and beyond, it has never been more important for people to be educated about the threat landscape,” said Steve Grobman, Chief Technology Officer of McAfee.

Heading into 2024, AI will help cybercriminals manipulate social media and shape public opinion like never before using deepfakes – or realistic fake videos, images and audios of real people or places created using deep learning technology – and other scams, McAfee warned in its report.

“People should brace for celebrity and influencer names and images being used by cybercrooks to endorse scams, and local online marketplaces that could become hotspots for AI-driven trickery,” it said.

Deepfakes can wreak havoc on the lives of their victims. Worse, some apps and solutions allow even unskilled people to create deepfake voice, video and photo scams with a handful of photographs or audio clips.

This could increase instances of cyberbullying among children by creating disturbingly realistic fake content, McAfee said. “The escalating intensity of these false images and words can pose significant, lasting harm to kids and their families, harming their privacy, identity, and wellbeing,” it said.

It further predicted that ‘charity frauds’ would become more prevalent next year with cybercrooks exploiting victims’ empathy, fear and grief. Charity frauds can take place by a criminal setting up a fake charity site, or a falsified page to trick well-meaning contributors into thinking they are supporting legitimate causes.

Scammers can also code faster and better to create malware and malicious websites using generative AI tools.

“While AI can do wonderful things like write love poems, help answer homework questions, and create art with a few prompts, it can also quickly code and that poses a growing threat,” the report said. “It also makes the creation and dissemination of convincing phishing and smishing emails faster and easier.”

The excitement around 2024 Olympics is also expected to create opportunities for scammers to target fans who are eager to buy tickets, book travel, access hot content, and participate in giveaways, McAfee said.