Brand Equity is everything. Great R&D, production, marketing, sales and service are all needed to bring a brand to life, and make it flourish for generations. Brands like AMEX, Ford, Maxwell House Coffee are intergenerational powerhouses – and they are the ones that stand the most to lose to AI fraud because when you get burned in a brand-scam, like ordering a case of Maxwell House Coffee for 50% off with your VISA card, you lose faith in human nature as well as Maxwell House Coffee and VISA.  

WHAT CAN YOU AS A ADVERTISING AND MARKETING PROFESSSIONAL DO TO MAKE THE BRANDS YOU SUPPORT MORE FRAUD PROOF.

Hint: less online sales are better.

Visa now employes artificial intelligence to reduce fraudulent transactions as scammers also take to AI.

"We look at over 500 different attributes around [each] transaction, we score that and we create a score – there's an AI model that can do that. We do about 300 billion transactions a year," said James Mirfin, global head of risk and identity solutions. 

Fraudsters use generative AI to make their scams more convincing than ever, leading to unprecedented losses for consumers, according to a Visa report.

The company prevented $40 billion in fraudulent activity from October 2022 to September 2023 - nearly double the fraudulent amount prevented in the previous year.

Scammers use AI to generate primary account numbers [PAN] and test them consistently. The PAN is a card identifier, usually 16 digits long, but it can be up to 19 digits in some instances. 

Using AI bots, criminals repeatedly attempt to submit online transactions through a combination of primary account numbers, card verification values (CVV) and expiration dates until they get an approval response. This method, known as an enumeration attack, leads to $1.1 billion in fraud losses annually, comprising a significant share of overall global losses due to fraud, according to Visa.

To reduce the number of fraudulent transactions VISA looks at over 500 different attributes around each transaction. The transaction is then scored, and we create a score for it. Each transaction is assigned a real-time risk score that helps detect and prevent more enumeration attacks in transactions where a purchase is processed remotely without a physical card via a card reader or terminal.

Because we’re looking at a wide range of different attributes and we're evaluating every single transaction, we see new types of fraud emerging – and our model will see them and will catch them. Our AI model scores those transactions as high risk – allowing our customers to decide not to approve those transactions."

In the last five years, the firm has invested $10 billion in technology that helps reduce fraud and increase network security.

Generative AI enables fraud

Cybercriminals are turning to generative AI and other emerging technologies including voice cloning and deepfakes to scam people, Mirfin warned.

• Romance scams
• Investment scams
• “Pig butchering” – a scam tactic in which criminals build relationships with victims before convincing them to put their money into fake cryptocurrency trading or investment platforms.

In today’s global marketplace the criminals don’t sit in a market, pick up a phone and call someone. That’s far too labour intensive. They're using some level of artificial intelligence, whether it's a voice cloning, a deepfake video, or social engineering, they're using artificial intelligence to enact different types of fraud, Mirfin said. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT enable scammers to produce far more convincing phishing messages to dupe people.

With less than three seconds of audio, Cybercriminals can clone your voice, according to the U.S. based identity and access management company Okta. The voice clone can be used to trick your family members into thinking that you’re in trouble and need money, or trick banking employees into transferring funds out of your account.

Generative AI tools have also been exploited to create celebrity deepfakes to deceive fans, said Okta. Cybercriminals using generative AI to commit fraud can do it for a lot cheaper by targeting multiple victims at one time using the same or less resources, said Deloitte's Center for Financial Services in a report.

"Incidents like this will likely proliferate in the years ahead as bad actors find and deploy increasingly sophisticated, yet affordable, generative AI to defraud banks and their customers," the report said, estimating that generative AI could increase fraud losses to $40 billion in the U.S. by 2027, from $12.3 billion in 2023.

Earlier this year, an employee at a Hong Kong-based firm sent $25 million to a fraudster that had deep-faked his chief financial officer and instructed to make the transfer.

Chinese state media reported a similar case in Shanxi province this year where an employee was duped into transferring 1.86 million yuan ($262,000) to a fraudster who used a deepfake of her boss in a video call.

A few of my friends’ kids are graduating from Uni or College and will be starting the first of many jobs aligned with their chosen career path soon. Most will keep to their path for the next 20 or 30 years. Just as I did. Just as their parents did.

It reminds me of the Canadian Seniors who leave their homes in cities and towns all across Canada, converge and then head south on a handful of interstate highways in the fall. When they get to Florida, Arizona or Texas, they “fan out”, find their own special place and “do their own thing”. Golf, Pickle-Ball, Fishing, Seminars, etc.

Instead of being a “team player” retirement celebrates soloists.

When you’re employing three generations: 20 \ 40 \ 60-year-old employees it’s very important to understand their life-style stages because what motivates them varies greatly – regardless of their position and income.  

My mother, who was born in 1921 and lived through the insanity of WWII in Germany, frequently told me that "reality often alters the course of our lives and puts an end to our dreams and plans. But, when one door closes, another usually opens just when and where you lease expect it to do so. You have to have faith and keep your eyes, ears and heart open."  

According to the CBC, the upcoming Canadian budget will feature lots of money for new housing, nothing for national or international defense, R&D, business development or our declining per capita productivity. A recent edition of The Economist offered another sobering perspective on individual productivity. Their research suggests that the average "smart" phone owner spends over 4.6 hours a day looking at their phones.

Add to that another 4 hours for housework, excercise and eating, 7 more for sleeep and 2 for commuting to and from work, and you hardly have any time left to "work".  

In the 50’s and 60’s, when there were just a few TV (and radio) stations, everyone watched the same show. In the 70’s and 80’s when second TV sets became common – adults watched one show while the kids watched another.

The media revolution of the 80’s also saw many other new or improved media options including backlit outdoor, TV cable-casting (versus TV broadcasting), an explosion of ethnic newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, as well as FSA targeted newspaper inserts and addressed direct mail. 

Each of these media promised, both clients and their ad agencies, a cheaper, more effective manner in which to convert ad exposures to sales.

As a traditional Media Director, my objective was to reach as many brand target group members as possible 3+ / week for as long as possible, within budget. “Media Fragmentation” enemy #1.

When there were only a few TV stations, in the 50’s and 60’s for example, it was very easy to speak to the whole family a few times a week; especially because there was only one TV, and no TV remotes, or recorders – so you had to sit through the whole show, and the commercials, in real time. In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s audiences per show fell and the cost per thousand [CPM] rose. Ad agency media departments devoted more and more time listening to the media sales pitches from other media. We were looking for other viable, effective, and more affordable media options to enable our clients to keep their brand stories in front of their audiences.     

On October 23, 2020 all that changed. Google had launched the first ever self-serve online advertising platform – Google Adwords, and began to take market share from all other media – worldwide. By 2023 Google Ads contributed over US$220 billion in revenue to Alphabet Inc. 

Google Adwords took share quickly because the “pay-per-click” model did away with all the other [traditional] media’s “audience estimates” that traditional media used to estimate their audience, ad exposure potential and their advertising rates. 

With ad-words you only paid IF the audience “clicked” on your ads. While books have been written on the pros and cons of Google’s business model. The two bottom lines are these:

PRO:

Thanks to Google AdWords, today Alphabet Inc. is one of the world’s 5th most valuable company. It was founded in1998; just twenty-six years ago.

CON: 

Google has siphoned off the primary source of revenue from all other media in the world. 

So – what’s next?

When Adwords and the social media equivalents were launched, in the early 00’s, each medium offered broad internet reach. 

Today each of us sees a narrow and very biased slice of the entire online world because our exposure is constantly being ‘curated’ by the social media or www search engine we’re using. Their AI and algorithm’s are employed to improve the click-thru-rate on the ads that they served up based on our past online history. Two people living together in the same space now experience two difference realities online.

Here's what AI has to say about itself.

“The future of social media is an exciting and dynamic landscape, with several trends and developments shaping how we interact, connect, and consume content. Let’s delve into some key aspects that will influence the future of social platforms:

1.   AR-based Shopping Experiences:

• Social media apps like Facebook and Instagram are increasingly integrating e-commerce into their user experience.
• Augmented reality (AR) allows virtual objects to be overlaid onto real-time video or pictures. Imagine trying on clothes virtually using your smartphone camera.
• Snapchat has already ventured into AR-based shopping, collaborating with fashion giant Gucci. Expect more features in this space soon.

2.  VR Communication:

• Virtual reality (VR) immerses individuals in a digital world using headsets. While we already communicate via text, voice calls, and video calls on social media, VR could take it to the next level.
• Meta (formerly Facebook) has been exploring VR spaces within its network, hinting at a future where we can virtually “be” with friends and family.
• Influencer Marketing Shifts: Brands are increasingly relying on influencers, especially micro-influencers, rather than celebrities. Authenticity and relatability drive engagement, making micro-influencers valuable partners for brands,

3.  Visual Content Dominance: including images and videos, will continue to dominate social media.

• Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest thrive on visual storytelling, and this trend will persist.

4.  Personalized Content:

• Algorithms will become smarter, tailoring content to individual preferences.
• Expect more personalized recommendations, ads, and experiences based on user behavior and interests.

6.  Integration into Daily Life:

• Social media will seamlessly integrate into various aspects of our lives.
• From work collaboration to entertainment, expect social platforms to be omnipresent.

The future of social media is ever-evolving, and these trends will shape how we connect, shop, and engage online. Stay curious and adapt to the changes ahead!”

"My" individual experience is enhanced at the expense of “us”.

This is a related traditional media test . . . 

This is what a newspaper office of the 60s and 70’s looked like.

Now, who can tell me who the woman being interviewed is?