Ir al contenido

The most common forms of fraud and scam used by criminals with AI in Peru

Scammers no longer require any technical knowledge to edit photos or clone voices. All they need is the use of a specific application offered by artificial intelligence.

Crime is also modernizing and now, frauds and scams are more sophisticated and real since Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to 'optimize' copies of web pages or social media accounts, fake or edited images and even replicate the voices of family members to ask the victim to deposit money to the thief under some reason that seems true. 

Now, scammers no longer require any technical knowledge to edit photos or clone voices. All they need is the use of a specific AI application. These are some of the most widely used cyber scams using artificial intelligence in the world, and which Peruvians could also be falling for:

AI voice cloningFalse content through WormGPTScam video calls

AI voice cloning

The victims of this type of scam claim to have received calls from relatives claiming to be kidnapped, asking for money to avoid being assaulted, or saying that they are in a life-or-death situation if they do not get money on loan. The victim of the scam receives the call or voice message from the alleged relative or friend with their identical voice asking for money to get out of the 'fatal' situation they are in. The person who was called rarely hesitates to offer help in such a situation and makes the deposit.

False content through WormGPT

WormGPT is a tool that not only produces malware or viruses, it also generates remarkably persuasive and personalized texts for emails so that the recipient believes what is written. This increases the chances of a successful attack. Similar tools are used to clone Facebook accounts or other social networks with the same profile photo. From here you write and ask for money from a family member or acquaintance.

Scam video calls

This is a new method that has not yet reached Peru but is not far from doing so. The scammer makes a video call with the deepfake application and, together with the audio application, carries out the scam quickly so that there is no room for the victim to ask any questions to the allegedly kidnapped person.

How to avoid these scams

Some of the recommendations are not to provide information on public social networks since the information in images or voice can be cloned and used for bad purposes. Therefore, it is advisable not to give data such as names, location, routines, etc.


Likewise, it is advisable to ask key questions or give false information to find out if the interlocutor identifies you. You can also request a video call.


“My recommendation is to always be aware of the latest news about virtual scams and, when you come across one, do not access any links, do not provide secret information such as credit card passwords and ignore unknown calls,” Willy Ugarte, professor of the master's degree in Data Science at the UPC Graduate School, tells the Andina agency.


It is also recommended:

- Delete any suspicious email and avoid accessing links or downloading suspicious applications that can extract banking or other information from your cell phone.


- Before clicking on links received by email, SMS messages and social networks, take precautions.


“It is important to instill in people basic digital education and to make all users aware of the dangers they are exposed to when entering unreliable pages or being aware of the latest scam methods,” said Willy Ugarte.


Scams in 2023

Between January and May 2023, the Police have received around 3,410 reports of fraud in Lima alone, which is equivalent to 22 reports per day. The money stolen under these methods would amount, according to Police data, to more than 36 million soles plus four million soles.


Of the total number of complaints, 562 were for emergency call scams. More than 391 thousand soles plus 106 thousand dollars were stolen under this method.