AI Fraud is Breaking the Internet

AI-Powered Scams: Fake Sites, Fake Ads, and the New Brand Impersonation Economy | Yoav Keren (BrandShield)

Host David Shipley interviews Yoav Keren, CEO and co-founder of BrandShield, about how AI is accelerating large-scale, "boring" online fraud beyond headline deepfakes: pixel-perfect fake storefronts, AI-run social accounts, fraudulent search and social ads, and poisoning AI chat results that link to scams. Keren says criminals can now cheaply target organizations of any size, creating massive global losses and harming legitimate businesses through lost revenue and trust; BrandShield research found over 30% of scam victims won't buy again from the impersonated brand. They discuss the marketing-style funnel scammers use, the risks of AI shopping agents being unable to distinguish real from fake, and whether platforms should be held accountable when they fail to act on reported fraud. Keren outlines BrandShield's AI-driven detection and takedown approach and its dependence on platform cooperation.

00:00 AI Scamdemic Overview 00:54 Meet Yoav Keren 01:57 Why BrandShield Matters 03:15 AI Scales Impersonation 07:03 Mundane Fraud Pays 09:37 Poisoned Chatbots 10:32 Trust Loss Fallout 12:16 Platform Liability Debate 17:01 Cheap Domains Whac A Mole 18:29 Protecting SMEs at Scale 22:06 BrandShield Tech Edge 25:58 AI Dystopia vs Real Harm 29:44 Global Governance Ideas 31:45 Lightning Round 34:19 When Fraud Turns Physical 36:16 Closing Thanks