Scammers using artificial intelligence pose significant dangers, with reports indicating a steep rise in financial losses. Impostor scams have increased nearly threefold since 2020, amounting to billions in annual losses for Americans. Even before AI use became common, impersonation fraud was widespread, translating to millions of scam reports annually. AI now enhances cloning tools, making scams more convincing, as demonstrated by the case of Arizona mother Jennifer DeStefano in 2023.
DeStefano received a phone call where she heard her daughter pleading for help. A man then demanded a $1 million ransom, later reducing it to $50,000. DeStefano discovered her daughter was safe before paying the money, later testifying before a Senate committee as a victim of an AI-powered kidnapping scam. This is just one example of how AI has advanced, increasing the difficulty of discerning genuine from fake interactions.
Today, scammers need only three seconds of audio to replicate someone’s voice. Deepfakes, digital duplicates created by AI, raise privacy and security issues, affecting personal and corporate interests. The U.S. Copyright Office in 2024 highlighted significant gaps in AI-related protections. They advised Congress to legislate federal protections against unauthorized digital replicas.
Creative professionals, particularly musicians and voice actors, face threats from generative AI that appropriates their work and likenesses. Organizations like The Alliance for Secure AI launched “Creatives for Secure AI” to advocate for rights against misuse of their identities. The bipartisan NO FAKES Act proposes protections for individuals against unauthorized digital likenesses.
The right to one’s identity is fundamental. In our rapidly advancing AI landscape, individuals need legal safeguards to prevent deception and unauthorized use of their likeness. The NO FAKES Act provides a pathway for such protections, advocating for the swift action of Congress to address this pressing concern.
Nico Zviovich is an advisor for The Alliance for Secure AI and a film producer. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved.