{
  "id": 17339433,
  "title": "AI agents are helping criminals to commit cyber crimes more cheaply and efficiently, say experts",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/ai-agents-are-helping-criminals-to-commit-cyber-crimes-more-cheaply",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-31T04:12:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/31/ai-agents-are-helping-criminals-to-commit-cyber-crimes-more-cheaply-and-efficiently-say-experts/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "AI-powered agents are proving to be a troubling development for cybersecurity experts. These agents can assist criminals in executing cybercrimes more efficiently and inexpensively, reducing the need for human expertise and resources. Experts warn that scammers can now gather targeted information, conduct conversations, and carry out various aspects of attacks using AI agents. This makes scams more convincing and harder to detect.\n\nScammers can leverage AI to research targets, craft personalized messages, and maintain the conversation by responding to inquiries and providing explanations. This level of interaction can make the scam feel more authentic and increase the likelihood of victims falling for the scam. Agents can also manage multiple conversations simultaneously and store information about each target.\n\nAI agents can even help criminals break into networks, analyze stolen data, and determine the appropriate ransom demands. While AI agents do not automatically gain access to private messages or bank records, they can still make the scam more believable and difficult to spot.\n\nHowever, experts remind that human involvement remains crucial in setting goals, overseeing attacks, and controlling the collection of stolen funds. Scammers still need to impersonate trusted individuals or organizations, and victims should remain vigilant against unexpected demands, pressure to act quickly, and requests for sensitive information. If a victim suspects a scam, it is essential to verify the request through reliable channels and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.",
  "summary": "A convincing job offer, a message that mentions where you work or a caller who sounds like a relative could all be part of scams supported by AI agents, cybersecurity experts have warned. Criminals are increasingly using AI agents to research targets, handle conversations and carry out different parts of attacks, reducing work that previously required more people and technical knowledge. AI…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}