site.btaGeneral Directorate Combating Organised Crime Warns of Increase of Cybercrime using AI

Senior Commissioner Vladimir Dimitrov, Director of the Cybercrime Directorate at the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime said in a BTA interview that there is a steady and gradual increase in cybercrime. The percentage of crimes committed with the help of artificial intelligence is also increasing, as it is currently used to automate part of the process. An example of this would be fake videos featuring a famous person to mislead the victim into investing their funds.

A few days ago, the Cybercrime Directorate warned about fake profiles and websites duplicating promotions of real companies.

Investment fraud

AI is most often used in this type of fraud. The Cybercrime Directorate receives such reports on a daily basis. In these cases, the victim is misled into investing their money in some platform after watching a video or other material created with artificial intelligence, said Senior Commissioner Dimitrov. He added that the image of a famous person, such as a politician, businessman, doctor, or journalist, is usually used.

“We have victims who have lost several hundred thousand BGN.. In some cases, people have taken out loans or sold property to invest in such platforms,” Dimitrov added.

Crimes involving sexually explicit material with children created with artificial intelligence

The Cybercrime Directorate has a specialized sector that combats the illegal distribution of child sexual exploitation material on the internet. They work daily with specialized software that identifies Bulgarian IP addresses distributing such material. For now, the percentage of cases in which artificial intelligence has been used is small (about 1–2%). But this percentage is gradually growing, said Senior Commissioner Dimitrov.

International investigations and criminal groups in Bulgaria

Dimitrov explained that no organized criminal groups have been broken up in Bulgaria since the beginning of this year. This is because the victims are often in one country, the fraudsters in another, the funds in a third, and the financial "mules" who open the bank accounts in a fourth. This significantly hinders not only the investigators’ work, but also that of all police structures, he explained.

Organized groups are mainly located in Asian or North African countries. These are often call centres where dozens or hundreds of people work, directing their efforts towards the victims. The scam usually starts on social media or an online advertisement promising high returns. The victims invest for months until they finally lose their money. Call centers targeting Bulgarians are usually located in Asia, Dimitrov explained.

“Together with our international partners from Europol, other police forces, and our colleagues from the FBI, we participate daily and weekly in operations targeting such groups. At the moment, I have no information about Bulgarians who have committed fraud using artificial intelligence,” he added.

Tips and recommendations for protection against AI-based fraud

Videos created with artificial intelligence often have pronunciation problems, Bulgarian words are replaced with Russian ones, for example. There may also be a mismatch between the lips and the sound. If something seems too good, easy, and profitable, it is 99% likely to be a scam, Dimitrov said. He advised people not to rush to believe something they see on the internet. 

Most victims of cybercrime lack basic knowledge of cybersecurity and do not follow basic rules. The most important ones are to change passwords regularly, use different passwords for different accounts, and use reliable antivirus software for computer devices. Phones and tablets are relatively well protected, but computers must have up-to-date antivirus protection, he added.