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A stranger calls with your child’s voice. A five-star page sells a product that never ships. Your smart speaker hears a command you didn’t. We pull back the curtain on how AI turbocharges old scams and introduces new ones—then map out the simple defenses that actually work.

We start with the most emotional con: deepfake kidnappings and voice clone frauds that need just seconds of audio to sound convincing. We share the one habit that stops panic payments—a family passcode—and the callback rule that forces verification. From there we examine AI-powered phishing that mirrors your writing style, holiday “too good to be true” deals, and the rise of fake storefronts and synthetic reviews. The rule of thumb is clear: go direct to the site or app, treat urgency as a red flag, and weigh reviews for human detail, not star counts.

On the home front, we dig into hidden and ultrasonic commands that can trigger smart assistants. The fix is practical: disable voice purchasing, keep speakers away from locks and garages, and audit your connected skills. We also tackle QR code overlays at meters and restaurants, the spike in delivery text scams, and teen-targeted face-swap sextortion—why open conversations and quick reporting matter more than perfect controls. Finally, we explore metadata and inference risks in AI chat tools. Even with encryption, patterns can leak context, so we outline redaction and obfuscation tactics and when to avoid sharing sensitive data altogether.

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