Protecting your loved ones, and what to do if you're targeted

AI scams feed on what they can find about you: your voice, your face, your children's names, the holiday you're on right now. You can't hide everything, but you can reduce the material out there, protect the people most at risk, and know what to do if it happens to you.

What you post

• Think "raw material": a video where you speak provides your voice, a front-facing photo provides your face, a post saying "on holiday in the sun!" says you're far away and maybe harder to reach. A scammer can combine all of it.
• Sort out what's public: check who can see your posts, your friends list, your phone number and your date of birth. Every social network has privacy settings; make your profile private if you don't need it to be public.
• Children: avoid posting their face, first name or school publicly. Once online, an image can be copied and misused without you knowing.

Elderly parents

They are often targeted, because scammers count on their trust and on their lower familiarity with these techniques. Talk to them about it, simply, without talking down to them: tell them about the fake grandson or the fake bank adviser, set up the family password, and repeat the golden rule: "Neither your bank nor I will ever ask you for money or a code in a rush. Hang up and call me back." If it helps, stick a small card by the phone with the numbers to call back.

Teenagers and intimate deepfakes

Some tools can make fake nude images from an ordinary photo of someone fully dressed. Teenagers fall victim to this, sometimes at the hands of classmates, sometimes of scammers who threaten to spread the images unless they're paid: this is called sextortion. What to tell them, before it happens:

• It's not their fault, even if the image looks real, even if they had sent a photo.
• You never pay and you don't answer threats: paying doesn't stop blackmail, it feeds it.
• You talk about it with a trusted adult, and you can contact a helpline for young people facing online abuse, if your country has one; such services can also help get content taken down.
• You never forward the image, not even to warn someone.

In many countries, sharing a sexual fake of someone without their consent is a crime, even when the image was made by AI.

If you're targeted: the right reflexes

• Keep the evidence: screenshots of the messages, the profile, the page address, the phone number, the date and time, the transfer references. Don't delete anything straight away.
• If you paid or gave your bank details: call your bank immediately to block your card and dispute the transaction. The number is in your banking app and on the back of your card.
• Get help: your country's official reporting service for online fraud and cybercrime can guide you step by step; government or police websites usually list it.
• Report it: forward scam text messages to the reporting number your mobile operator or country provides; report illegal content (intimate fakes, fraud, threats) through the official reporting service. Also report the account or post to the platform concerned.
• File a complaint with the police, bringing your evidence. In some countries, certain online fraud can also be reported online.
• Change your passwords if you gave one away, starting with your email.