AI-Powered Social Engineering: How Hackers Exploit ChatGPT to Steal Identities (2025-26 Defense Guide)
The New Era of AI-Driven Cybercrime The 2024 MITRE Threat Report confirmed what security experts feared: 92% of successful high-value cyberattacks now incorporate artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional hacking, these AI-powered threats learn, adapt, and personalize attacks in real-time—making them virtually undetectable to conventional security systems. Case Study: The $8.7 Million Virtual Kidnapping Scam In January 2025, a Silicon Valley CFO received a call from what sounded like her teenage daughter sobbing. The "girl" claimed kidnappers were holding her at gunpoint, demanding immediate cryptocurrency payment. The executive transferred 187 Bitcoin before discovering: The voice was cloned from a TikTok video using ElevenLabs' AI Background noises were synthesized from movie sound effects The "kidnappers" used AI-generated gun cocking sounds This wasn't an isolated incident. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports:…