ByNina Pineda
Friday, November 6, 2026 12:14AM
Nina Pineda has the details.
WABC
NEW YORK (WABC) –We see them all the time: texts, phone calls, emails, all trying to trick us into becoming victims of a new scam. Now, with artificial intelligence growing stronger and smarter, scams are getting more complex.
With Federal Trade Commission data revealing 55,000 fraud reports from New York just this year, consumers have to stay alert.
However, there’s a new trend fighting fire with fire. It still involves AI and scams, but not the way you might think.
According to the FTC, this year alone, consumers have lost over $330 million, with a median loss of $305 per person, due to scammers.
And they usually have three things in common: a ping, a zing, and a sting. That’s how Open AI executives describe the trifecta of tools to defraud you.
“The ping is when they first reach out to someone. Often, it’s like a cold call or an unsolicited text message. The zing is when they use that emotional language to try and get you scared or excited. And then the sting is the inevitable bit where they ask for money, or a credit card number, or any other kind of personal sensitive information,” said Jack Stubbs.
Stubbs leads the intelligence and investigative team at Open AI, helping disrupt bad actors trying to use ChatGPT for criminal activity.
“We take the risk of misuse and abuse of our models very seriously,” Stubbs said.
But there’s a way you can fight back
“What we’re seeing is that millions of people around the world are actually using ChatGPT to spot scams and help keep themselves safe online. If you share the message with ChatGPT, it can very helpfully, very quickly help you identify the risk signals,” Stubbs said.
So, 7 On Your Side put his advice to the test. We took a recently received text about part-time work opportunities and put it into ChatGPT to see what it would say. ChatGPT determined the message was a scam and recommended not to contact the sender.
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“So really it’s giving you, the person, the information you need to make your own informed decision about what might be dangerous and how to proceed,” Stubbs said.
Remember, it’s a computer, so when you allow zing and sting to get you all worked up, AI’s lack of emotion can help.
“It gives you that kind of low emotion, calm, trusted second voice,” Stubbs said.
So, as scammers raise the bar with AI, so can you.
Remember to do your research if you’re opposed to AI. Use Google, Facebook, your local consumer agency, or the Better Business Bureau if you receive a product link or email you think is suspicious.
Never give personal or financial information either. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
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