New AI-powered anti-scam tool wins praise from UK fraud minister

A new AI-powered tool that lets online shoppers “be their own detective” and spot the warning signs of scams has won praise from the UK’s fraud minister.

Scam Intelligence lets customers of the digital bank Starling upload images of items and ads on online marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Vinted and Etsy, which it analyses for signs of fraud before serving up personalised advice “in seconds”.

Lord Hanson, the UK’s minister for fraud, told the Guardian that the “UK-first” tool launched by the bank was “a brilliant example of how industry can deploy AI to help us stay one step ahead of fraudsters”.

Scam Intelligence was built using Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, in collaboration with Google Cloud, and was due to be unveiled at a fintech event in Las Vegas on Monday.

During testing it increased the rate at which customers cancelled payments by 300% – suggesting it has encouraged customers to pause and reflect before making a purchase.

The launch comes days after official figures revealed that the amounts of money lost to purchase scams have hit their highest level since the banking body UK Finance started collecting data in 2020.

With these scams, the victim pays in advance for goods or services – ranging from concert tickets and cars to mobile phones and holidays – that either do not exist or never arrive. This type of fraud usually involves the victim using an online platform such as an auction website or responding to a social media advert, said UK Finance.

Using Scam Intelligence, people can upload listings and messages from sellers on online marketplaces as well as images of items for sale. The tool can also analyse screenshots of texts and messages from potential scammers that are asking customers to transfer money.

If someone is trying to buy a bike on Facebook Marketplace, the tool might inform them that “we found some risks” – which might be that the price looks too good to be true, the photos are “generic or low-quality”, which means they could be stolen or fake, or the bank account details do not match the seller’s details. If a customer is trying to buy a guitar on eBay, it might flag the seller’s refusal to use eBay’s secure payment features. Similarly, if customers receive requests to transfer money before seeing an item in person, the tool could detect “pressure and urgency tactics”.

Armed with this intelligence, customers can then decide whether to continue with the purchase or not.

Harriet Rees, the chief information officer at Starling, said its new tool would help people “to spot the signs of scams themselves” and “be their own detective and investigator”.

The bank indicated it believed the tool would be able to spot 90% of the “scam indicators” in an image.

It said that during testing, customers had tended to use it most for lower-value online marketplace items such as event tickets and trainers.

Starling said this was the first time a UK bank had offered an AI-powered scam detection tool in its app.

Customers have to opt in to take advantage of Scam Intelligence, and use of the tool is not mandatory.