You usually cannot prove that a message or voice was made by AI from its style alone. AI can make an impersonation sound polished, personal and urgent, while ordinary criminals can also write convincing messages without generative tools. The dependable response is behavioral: pause, inspect the request and contact details, verify through a channel you find independently, then report or secure anything affected.
The FBI says AI-generated content has advanced to the point that it is often difficult to identify. Treat AI clues as warning signs, not as an authenticity test.
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The four-step test for any unexpected message or call
Use the same sequence whether the contact arrives by email, SMS, voicemail or a live call. It prevents an attacker from turning surprise into a rushed decision.
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- Inspect. Identify what is being requested, why it arrived now, and whether the sender address, phone number or URL is exactly what you expect.
- Verify independently. Find the organization’s website or telephone number yourself, use an account bookmark or official app, or contact the person through a separate channel already in your contacts. Never use the link, number or contact details supplied in the suspicious message.
- Respond safely. Report the impersonation, preserve useful evidence and secure any account or payment information that may have been exposed.
Changing from text to an encrypted messaging app does not authenticate a person. An urgent request remains unverified after a caller moves you to another channel.
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Why AI makes phishing harder to recognize
Generative tools can produce fluent grammar, realistic formatting, tailored details and a plausible tone in seconds. They can also help an attacker imitate a public official, colleague or relative and create a voice sample that sounds almost identical to someone you know. A message with perfect spelling, a familiar logo or accurate personal information may therefore be more dangerous, not less.
At the same time, a rough-looking message is not automatically safe. Attackers can combine AI-written text with a spoofed address, a compromised account or a genuine-looking website. Authorship and legitimacy are different questions: even if a human wrote every word, the request can still be fraudulent.
What AI detection tools can and cannot establish
Text and audio detectors estimate whether content resembles material produced by a model. They do not prove who sent it, whether an account was compromised, or whether a real person edited AI-generated content. The FTC describes limits in both watermarking and detection: marks can be altered or removed, and detection performance changes as generation methods evolve. Its conclusion is that “there’s still no silver bullet to prevent the harms posed by voice cloning.”
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How can I tell if an email was written by AI?
You generally cannot tell reliably from wording. Examine the transaction the email is trying to make you perform and the technical details around it.
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Inspect the sender and destination
- Expand the From field and read the complete address, not only the displayed name. Look for a one-character substitution, an added word, an unusual domain ending or a look-alike spelling.
- Hover over links on a computer, or press and hold where your mail app allows it, to reveal the actual destination. Compare the domain character by character with the organization you intended to reach.
- Be cautious with attachments, QR codes and buttons that ask you to sign in, update payment information or “verify” an account.
Evaluate the request, not the prose
An unexpected demand to pay an invoice, open a document, reset credentials, provide an authentication code or act through a link deserves independent verification. Correct names, account numbers, logos and professional formatting are context an attacker may have copied; they are not proof of origin.
Safe handling sequence
- Do not click the link or open the attachment.
- Open the account through a bookmark or by typing the known address yourself. Check notices inside the legitimate account rather than following the email’s path.
- Call the organization using a number from a statement, the back of a card or its independently located official website.
- Use your mail provider’s phishing-report function and preserve the original message if you need to report it to the organization or authorities.
| Email signal | Why it matters | Safe response |
|---|---|---|
| Slightly altered sender domain | Address spoofing or a look-alike domain can make a fake appear familiar. | Verify through a known website or number; do not reply. |
| Unexpected payment or credential request | The goal is often money, account access or a reusable password. | Sign in from a bookmark and confirm with the organization. |
| Polished writing or correct personal details | AI and stolen data can improve credibility. | Treat style and personalization as neutral evidence. |
| Urgent link or attachment | Time pressure reduces the chance that you will inspect the message. | Stop and verify independently before opening anything. |
How can I tell if a text from my bank is real?
Assume an unsolicited bank, delivery, toll, payment or “wrong number” text is untrusted until you confirm it outside the message. Consumer scams often use a short story and a link to make a click feel routine.
Check the message without engaging
- Do not reply with your name, password, card details, Social Security number or one-time authentication code.
- Do not tap the link. Open the bank’s official app or type its known web address and look for an alert there.
- Call the number printed on your card or on a statement, not a number in the text.
- Be especially cautious when the message threatens account closure, a fee, a missed delivery or a deadline unless you act immediately.
A text that begins a friendly conversation and then asks you to continue in another encrypted app is not safer because the conversation moved. In a May 15, 2025 alert, the FBI described impersonators using texts to build rapport, move targets to encrypted applications and seek access, money or introductions.
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When a text appears to come from a known person
Contact that person through a number already saved in your contacts or another channel you have used before. Do not assume that a familiar name, profile photo or area code identifies the real account.
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How do I know if a voice on the phone is AI?
You cannot establish authenticity from a familiar voice, emotional delivery or a few audio artifacts. The FBI warns that cloned voices can sound nearly identical to a known contact. Small glitches, odd pauses or unnatural emphasis may be clues, but their absence does not prove the caller is genuine.
Use a call-back, not a challenge question
- Tell the caller you will call back, then end the call. Do not let pressure keep you connected while you verify.
- Dial a number already in your contacts or obtained independently. Do not use a number the caller gives you.
- For a family emergency, contact another trusted relative or use a verification phrase you agreed on in advance. This is a practical household safeguard, not a guarantee.
- Never transfer money, disclose credentials or read out a verification code during an unexpected call.
If the caller claims to represent a company, use the organization’s published support route. If the caller claims to be a government official, find the agency’s official contact page yourself.
Voicemail and audio messages
Save the message, inspect the originating number and verify with a separate call. A voicemail can be generated from a short public recording, edited from several clips or delivered from a spoofed number. Do not call back through an embedded link or trust a request merely because the speaker sounds distressed.
Warning signs that should slow you down
None of these signs proves that AI was used or that a contact is fraudulent. Together, they indicate that you should stop and verify.
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- An unexpected request for money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, credentials or a one-time code.
- Instructions to keep the conversation secret or to move immediately to a different app.
- A new sender address, phone number or payment destination that differs slightly from the usual one.
- Pressure based on fear, authority, romance, a family emergency or a limited-time consequence.
- A request to bypass normal approval, invoice or account-recovery procedures.
- A link whose visible words look familiar but whose actual domain does not.
- A voice or writing style that feels unusual, combined with a request that has real financial or account consequences.
Use these observations to choose a safer action; do not use them as a score that certifies a message as human or artificial.
What to do if someone calls pretending to be a family member
Assume the emergency could be real while treating the caller’s identity as unverified. Keep the call short, end it politely and call the relative’s known number. If they do not answer, contact another family member, a hospital or the relevant organization through a number you find independently.
Do not send money to a new account, provide a login, disclose a one-time code or share identifying information while the caller is on the line. A convincing voice and specific family details can come from public recordings, breached data or information gathered during the conversation.
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- Stop the interaction. Do not click additional links, download files or continue the conversation.
- Contact the real organization or person. Use an independently obtained website, app or telephone number and report the impersonation through its fraud or abuse process.
- Change exposed passwords. Use the legitimate site, change the reused password anywhere else it appears and review active sessions or recovery details.
- Protect authentication. Enable multifactor authentication where available. If a verification code was disclosed, tell the affected provider immediately so it can review sessions and recovery attempts.
- Act on payments quickly. Contact your bank, card issuer, payment service or cryptocurrency provider through its known support route and ask what reversal or account-protection steps are available.
- Report the incident. The FBI directs phishing and spoofing reports to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Local law-enforcement and consumer-protection channels may also apply.
- Preserve evidence. Keep the original email or text, complete sender details, URLs, call logs, voicemails, screenshots and transaction records. Do not forward a malicious attachment to other people.
If you only opened a message
Opening an email or text does not by itself reveal your password, but avoid interacting further. If a file opened or a site requested a login, update security software, run the device’s normal security checks and change credentials from a clean, known-good session.
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How to protect accounts before an impersonation happens
Multifactor authentication reduces the damage a stolen password can cause. Use an authenticator app, hardware security key or another factor supported by the service. A FIDO2-compatible security key is one option for accounts that support it; compare the service’s supported standards, the key’s connector or NFC requirements, backup and recovery options, and whether your important accounts accept hardware keys.
A security key protects account sign-in; it does not identify an AI-generated email, authenticate a caller or make an unexpected request legitimate. Keep recovery codes in a secure place and maintain more than one recovery route so a lost key does not lock you out.
Account habits that limit impersonation damage
- Use unique passwords stored in a reputable password manager.
- Turn on sign-in alerts and review active sessions regularly.
- Limit personal information that makes family, workplace or financial relationships easy to imitate.
- Agree with relatives and coworkers on a callback procedure for urgent requests.
- Use payment-change and wire-transfer approvals that require a second person or a known callback.
What the reported numbers mean
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2025 report recorded more than 22,000 complaints that reported AI-related information and adjusted losses exceeding $893 million. Those figures cover AI-related complaints broadly; they are not a count of phishing messages or a total of all AI-assisted fraud.
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A practical decision tree
- Was the contact expected? If no, treat it as untrusted until independently confirmed.
- Does it request money, credentials, codes, a download or a new communication channel? If yes, stop and verify outside the message.
- Do the sender details and destination exactly match a known organization or person? If not, do not engage.
- Can you reach the real person or organization using a saved or independently sourced route? If yes, verify there. If no, wait; uncertainty is safer than compliance.
- Did you disclose anything? If yes, change credentials, contact the provider or financial institution, preserve evidence and report promptly.
The most reliable test is not “Does this sound like AI?” It is “Can I verify this request without relying on the request itself?” If the answer is no, do not proceed.
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