It’s a common fear: As artificial intelligence increasingly rules the digital world, how do we know what’s real and what’s fake?

New forms of disinformation are harmful enough, but chatbot scams, video deepfakes, and voice cloning are also taking financial fraud to a whole new level, enabling scammers to impersonate customer service representatives, co-workers, and even loved ones or romantic prospects in order to get our money.

Generative AI is not only making it easier and faster to exploit people, but also removing many of the human errors that had been reliable red flags in the past. Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services predicts that generative AI could push annual bank fraud losses to as high as $40 billion by 2027, more than triple what they were in 2023.

So what can you do to protect yourself? Keep up with the latest tactics and stay vigilant.

Some of the most common AI scams involve:

Voice cloning. Scammers use AI to mimic voices of people you know or recognize. A Florida woman told her local press she lost $15,000 after getting a phone call that sounded like her daughter asking for bail money following a car accident.

Video deepfakes. Just as they do with voices, criminals doctor video to impersonate people, including celebs on social media or even your boss on a Zoom call. A worker in Hong Kong was reportedly fooled by a video deepfake of their CFO on a video call and authorized a $25 million payment to the scammer. Even though the worker was skeptical at first, they were reassured by the fact that they recognized other colleagues (also video manipulations) on the call.

Chatbot scams. Bad actors use real-time conversations to exploit your trust. Often they impersonate companies you do business with, asking for financial details or bogus payments. But they can also look to forge romantic connections. Twenty-six percent of people surveyed by online security firm McAfee said they or someone they knew had been approached by an AI chatbot posing as a real person on a dating app or social media.

Classic scams 2.0. Bad grammar and generic references used to be a great way to spot phishing emails. But scammers using AI can make anyone anywhere in the world sound like a native English speaker — and like someone you’re used to dealing with. Personalized touches often include mimicking the style of a message you’re more likely to trust (like realistic logos and formats).

Spotting fakes may be harder with AI, but it’s not impossible. The FBI and American Bankers Association recommend that you:

•  Look for subtle imperfections: strange lighting, unnatural facial movements, distorted features, watermarks, or shadows that don’t make sense.

•  Listen for flat or robotic voices, voices that don’t match lip movements, or word choice that doesn’t sound like your loved ones or colleagues.

•  Establish a codeword with friends and family to confirm their identity on a phone or video call. (Or if you suspect an impersonator, ask them a question only the real person would know the answer to.)

•  Minimize what’s accessible to scammers by limiting posts of your face or voice, making your social media accounts private, and restricting followers to people you know.

And don’t forget this tried and true advice for protecting yourself, which still applies even in the AI age:

•  Avoid clicking on suspicious links.

•  Don’t rush to make any money-related decisions. Urgency (like someone saying they need $400 in gift cards in the next hour) is a red flag.

•  When you’re not sure a person is who they say they are, call or email them back using their official contact information (like your bank’s customer service number) instead of the details they sent you. (SoFi members can check our fraud hub.)

Related Reading

The 6 Most Popular AI Scams In 2025 (CanIPhish)

AI Scams: What are They and How Can You Avoid Them? (Norton)

AI Is Forcing the Return of the In-Person Job Interview (The Wall Street Journal via MSN)

Please understand that this information provided is general in nature and shouldn’t be construed as a recommendation or solicitation of any products offered by SoFi’s affiliates and subsidiaries. In addition, this information is by no means meant to provide investment or financial advice, nor is it intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision or recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Keep in mind that investing involves risk, and past performance of an asset never guarantees future results or returns. It’s important for investors to consider their specific financial needs, goals, and risk profile before making an investment decision.

The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. These links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this content.

SoFi isn't recommending and is not affiliated with the brands or companies displayed. Brands displayed neither endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks and service marks referenced are property of their respective owners.

OTM20250924SW

While this year’s stock market recovery is often linked to the AI boom and resilience to tariffs, there’s something else less visible at play: U.S. companies are having a record year for buying back their own stocks.

Led by Apple, Alphabet, and JPMorgan Chase, hundreds of U.S. companies have announced $1.13 trillion in share buybacks so far this year, according to data compiled by money manager Birinyi Associates on Sept. 17. That already breaks the record for any full year, and Birinyi expects that total to top $1.3 trillion by year-end.

But what’s driving this buyback boom? And do buybacks always benefit investors?

The purpose of a stock buyback is typically to boost the price of the stock, and generally investors see them as a signal that a company is confident in its long-term outlook. But the practice can be controversial, and critics actually view buybacks as a bad sign for a company’s prospects.

Here’s more on how they work and how they’re viewed.

What exactly is a buyback, anyway?

A stock buyback is — you guessed it — when a company buys some of its stock back from its shareholders, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This usually boosts the value of the shares that remain on the open market — at least in the short term.

Companies tend to engage in buybacks when they’re flush with cash, the stock market is trending up, and they feel that their shares are undervalued.

Generally they do this by announcing what’s known as a “repurchase authorization,” which either spells out how much money they’re allocating for the buyback or the percentage of shares they’re planning to buy back. Most of the time, companies buy the stock on the open market at the market price.

The announcement doesn’t necessarily mean the company will end up buying back all the stock it’s authorized to, but historically, 90% of announced buybacks are completed within a year, according to Biryini.

What’s behind the buyback boom?

When companies have extra cash, they can pay off debt, give out raises, invest it back in their business (picture: acquisitions, hiring, expansions,) pay dividends to shareholders, or buy back some of their shares.

This year, there’s so much up in the air that buybacks may be an appealing choice, analysts say. Between evolving tariff policies, unsteady inflation trends, and the spike in AI use, it can be tricky for businesses to make long-term investment plans (like building factories in another country.)

But this is also why some investors are troubled by buybacks. Cash spent on a buyback is cash not spent on hiring and capital expenditures like equipment, factories, and research and development — things which might help the business grow in the longer-term. In other words, skeptics say that diverting cash to stock repurchases could be masking a lack of more productive, profitable growth opportunities for a company.

Do buybacks actually give back?

At a basic level, a buyback is beneficial to shareholders when it boosts a stock’s price. In the short-term, shareholders who are looking to sell their stock can potentially profit from selling at an even higher price than what they bought at.

The same may be true for longer–term investors, depending on the trajectory of the stock and when they decide to sell.

And this is where the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio may become a more important factor. Since buybacks reduce the number of available shares in a company, that company’s earnings per share (EPS) — a key measure of profitability — automatically rises. Even if the intrinsic value of the shares hasn’t changed, this can make the stock appear more attractive, because it’s now trading at a lower PE ratio (meaning a lower price relative to its earnings per share.)

Buybacks can also make the market more liquid and help reduce volatility, research has found.

On the other hand, critics view buybacks as a way of artificially pumping up a stock price in order to benefit top execs who are paid in stock.

Buybacks vs. dividends

While it’s not guaranteed that a share price will rise as a result of a buyback, companies view buybacks as one of two main ways they can reward shareholders. The other is dividends — regular per-share payments, usually made on a quarterly basis. Think of dividends as an allowance, and buybacks as a potential bonus.

Buybacks are considered the more tax-friendly option because investors don’t pay any tax until and unless they sell the shares for a profit. Income from dividends, on the other hand, is taxable in the year that it’s received.

Of the $1.6 trillion that S&P 500 companies returned to shareholders in 2024, about 40% came in the form of dividends, with the remaining 60% being buybacks, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

In short

Buybacks can mean different things to different people. They can signal that companies are confident in their growth trajectory, believe that their shares are undervalued, and have excess cash to work with. When there’s an uptick in buybacks (as we’re seeing now,) they can also help lift the broader market.

At the same time, they can indicate companies are hesitant to invest in long-term growth initiatives, which can stifle innovation and broader economic growth.

Please understand that this information provided is general in nature and shouldn’t be construed as a recommendation or solicitation of any products offered by SoFi’s affiliates and subsidiaries. In addition, this information is by no means meant to provide investment or financial advice, nor is it intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision or recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Keep in mind that investing involves risk, and past performance of an asset never guarantees future results or returns. It’s important for investors to consider their specific financial needs, goals, and risk profile before making an investment decision.

The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. These links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this content.

SoFi isn't recommending and is not affiliated with the brands or companies displayed. Brands displayed neither endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks and service marks referenced are property of their respective owners.

OTM2025092401