Finance

Personal Finance: The year in AI investment scams | Chattanooga Times Free Press

Published

5 months ago

December 27, 2025

Personal Finance: The year in AI investment scams | Chattanooga Times Free Press

American consumers surrendered over $12 billion to fraudsters in 2024 according to the Federal Trade Commission. Nearly half of that or just under $6 billion was due to investment scams, and 2025 is proceeding on pace to eclipse that number.

Over half of that financial fraud now involves the use of artificial intelligence, making these crimes easier to fall for and harder to detect before the damage is done. And while financial institutions and regulators are themselves employing AI to identify and mitigate investment fraud, the only truly effective prevention is to avoid becoming a victim. Here is a look at some of the most successful AI-enabled financial scams of 2025.

Phantom AI trading bots. Investors have long chased the holy grail of a fool-proof trading system that could generate consistent profits (in the finest tradition of Ponce de Leon). A host of new automated trading programs have appeared, claiming to harness the power of artificial intelligence to beat the market. Called “bots,” short for robots but essentially a software program capable of processing huge amounts of data to detect patterns, many make outrageous claims including guarantees or touting astronomical records of success.

While the track record of legitimate trading bots has been mixed at best, bad actors create programs that lure investors into depositing increasingly large sums to a broker dealer of their choosing. Once the pot has grown large enough, the bot may disappear or cease functioning, taking the investor’s funds with them, a scheme called a “rug pull.” Another variation is a pump and dump, where the bot promotes a little known cryptocurrency to artificially pump up its value until the bot sells its own holding, crashing the price. Others may trick the target into granting access to their digital wallet and then draining the account.

Celebrity deepfakes. A deepfake is a manufactured image or video that uses a type of AI called deep learning to replicate a real person and manipulate what they are saying. Fraudsters love to use fake celebrity endorsements because the familiar visage creates a sense of trust by the victim. Many people form what are called parasocial relationships with public figures, a one-sided connection in which the fan feels they know the celebrity and therefore trusts their recommendation.

An AI generated bogus celebrity might offer a free product, asking only that the customer pay shipping by logging onto a counterfeit website. Poof, a $300 charge. Or worse. Other schemes involve promoting risky or fraudulent crypto investments or penny stock offerings.

According to cybersecurity firm McAfee, 72% of Americans have seen a deepfake pitch, 31% have clicked on the link, and 10% have lost money to the scam. According to McAfee, the top 10 most frequently faked celebs include Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johannson, Sydney Sweeney and Lebron James, pitching everything from free cookware and cosmetics to magic pink salt or even soliciting donations for victims of the Los Angeles fires. And the rise of deepfake scams doesn’t stop there. McAfee also lists the 10 most impersonated social media “influencers” including such household names as Pokemane, MrBeast, Karina and Brooke Monk, obviously targeting the younger set (as if the real TikTok influencers aren’t bad enough). Caveat emptor.

Crypto recovery room scams. What could be more fun for a lowlife criminal than to swindle an unsuspecting mark? How about swindling the same victim again?

Fraudsters pose as law enforcement agencies, law firms or crypto recovery specialists offering to assist in reclaiming cryptocurrency lost in a previous scam, hence the term “recovery room.” These chisellers often create flashy websites including AI-manufactured testimonials from nonexistent clients and charge a hefty upfront fee, typically payable in cryptocurrency as well. Any red flags here?

Tech support and fake QR code scams. It used to be the case that phishing emails were easily recognizable by their poor grammar and spelling errors. No more. Using AI, criminals produce professional looking pitches to entice gullible targets into signing up for tech support services they do not need and then fleece the victims. They often pose as well-known firms in the cybersecurity industry and convince their victims to grant remote access to infest their devices with malware.

Another twist is the fake QR code. Perpetrators advertise or distribute handbills or emails with a QR code that once scanned can implant malicious bugs or infiltrate your personal information for nefarious purposes.

How to protect yourself. Bad guys are always a step or two ahead of regulators and law enforcement when it comes to deployment of artificial intelligence. Consumers need to be aware of the increasingly realistic solicitations to avoid falling victim.

Warning signs of AI investment fraud include guarantees of impressive returns. Representations that an investment is a sure thing or without risk are almost always fraudulent. If it sounds too good to be true …

Demand for upfront payment is another alarm bell, especially if payment is requested in cryptocurrency. Also be highly skeptical of any unsolicited offer to make money or recover lost assets, especially if they employ high pressure tactics. Always independently verify the identity of anyone with whom you are considering a financial transaction. And never scan a QR code from an unknown source.

Investment fraud often involves solicitation to invest in a hot stock or digital asset. Remember that it is illegal for an unregistered individual to solicit securities investments. Before opening an account, do a background check on the individual at BrokerCheck.Finra.org to review the disciplinary history and work experience of legitimate representatives.

If you are the victim of a scam, report it as soon as possible to law enforcement. Contact the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.FTC.gov, or the FBI Internet Crime Compliant Center at IC3.gov. They have online resources to direct you to your next steps. And although it is unlikely that you with be reunited with your money, you might help someone else avoid the same fate.

Christopher A. Hopkins, CFA, is a co-founder of Apogee Wealth Partners in Chattanooga.

Finance

Proximo Congress 2026: US Energy & Infrastructure Finance | Insights | Mayer Brown

Published

8 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Proximo Congress 2026: US Energy & Infrastructure Finance | Insights | Mayer Brown

Mayer Brown is a proud sponsor of Proximo Congress 2026. This senior meeting of the US energy, infrastructure, and digital infrastructure finance community is shaped around the questions credit and investment committees are actually asking in 2026: how asset classes are converging, how risk is being priced in a recalibrated policy and geopolitical environment, and how public and private capital are being structured together to deliver projects at scale.

Mayer Brown has also been recognized for three separate awards which will be presented during the event. These awards include:

Proximo North America Transport Deal of the Year 2025 – SR 400 Peach Partners
Proximo North America Rail Deal of the Year 2025 – Brightline West
Proximo North America LNG Deal of the Year 2025 – Port Arthur LNG 2

For more information, visit the event website.

Finance

What are nonconforming mortgages and what are the risks?

Published

19 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

What are nonconforming mortgages and what are the risks?

If you have ever taken out a mortgage, you’ll know there are a lot of requirements to meet. You may need to put down a certain amount and have a debt-to-income ratio below a certain threshold. You may also run into limits on how much you can borrow or what sources of income the lender will count.

These rules do not apply to all mortgages — just to conforming mortgages, which is what the majority of borrowers take out. However, mortgage lenders are increasingly offering what are known as nonconforming loans, or mortgages that do not “comply with every one of the strict standards put in place after the housing crisis,” said The Wall Street Journal. While “still a small portion,” the “share of mortgages using alternative lending practices” has “doubled in size over the past three years.”

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Finance

Financial Stress Is Changing What Consumers Value in Credit Cards | PYMNTS.com

Published

1 day ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Financial Stress Is Changing What Consumers Value in Credit Cards | PYMNTS.com

What U.S. consumers ask of their credit cards has changed. For financially stressed households, it has little to do with rewards.

As more households turn to credit cards to manage liquidity and cover everyday expenses, a new set of practical concerns is driving card behavior: Can the card help avoid a missed payment? Can it make balances easier to track? Can it provide enough visibility into available credit and upcoming obligations to help manage an uncertain month?

Those concerns are beginning to reorder what consumers value most in their credit card relationships.

That evidence is clear in “Winning Top of Wallet: How Credit Card Apps Shape Choice,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Elan Credit Card report examining how consumers use mobile apps to manage spending, payments and engagement across their credit card portfolios. The report found 30% of consumers primarily use credit cards to build credit or extend purchasing power, while another 22% primarily use cards for cash flow management, together outweighing rewards-based usage.

The divide is more pronounced among financially stressed households. Among consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 40% cited credit dependence as their primary reason for using credit cards. Just 11% pointed to rewards.

For a growing share of consumers, credit cards are functioning less like discretionary spending products and more like liquidity management tools.

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What Matters Most

That evolution is also changing which app features matter most.

Among cash flow-focused consumers, 31% said scheduling payments or autopay encouraged them to spend more on a card, while 27% cited alerts and reminders. Credit-motivated consumers showed similarly high engagement with tools tied to available credit visibility and payment timing.

Rewards still influence spending behavior, particularly among financially stable households. Half of consumers who prioritize rewards said tracking or redeeming rewards through a mobile app encouraged them to spend more on the card.

But the report suggests that financial stress changes the hierarchy of engagement. As household budgets tighten, rewards become less central than predictability, visibility and control.

That shift helps explain why mobile apps increasingly influence which cards become top of wallet.

Among credit-dependent consumers, 77% said the quality of a credit card app influences which card they use most often. Credit-dependent consumers also reported the highest app adoption levels, with 77% using their primary card’s app regularly or occasionally.

The competition, in other words, is no longer simply about card acquisition. It is about becoming the card consumers rely on to navigate everyday financial management.

Digital Experience Becomes a Financial Retention Tool

The report also suggests that digital experience increasingly shapes retention risk.

Nearly 1 in 4 cardholders said a poor app or digital experience contributed to reduced card use. Among Gen Z consumers, that figure climbed to 45%.

At the same time, 7 in 10 cardholders said app quality influences which card becomes their primary card, underscoring how mobile interfaces are becoming embedded directly into consumer payment behavior.

For issuers, the implications extend beyond app design.

Consumers living paycheck to paycheck hold nearly as many credit cards as financially stable households, meaning financially stressed consumers are not disengaging from credit entirely. Instead, they are becoming more selective about which cards feel easiest to manage and most useful during periods of financial pressure.

Rewards and promotional offers still matter, particularly among affluent and financially stable consumers. But for a growing segment of households, the most valuable card may be the one that reduces uncertainty around balances, payment timing and available liquidity.

In a crowded multi-card market, financial visibility itself is becoming part of the product.