The UAE Cybersecurity Council has warned of a sharp rise in artificial intelligence-enabled fraud, urging individuals and organisations to strengthen vigilance as advanced technologies reshape cybercrime and make scams harder to detect.
The warning was issued as part of the weekly awareness campaign under the Cyber Pulse initiative launched by the UAE Cybersecurity Council, which focuses on raising public awareness of emerging digital threats.
The Council said artificial intelligence and its applications have fundamentally transformed fraudulent practices, enabling tasks that once required significant time and effort to be carried out in seconds.
It stressed that AI has increased the complexity of detecting cyber fraud by making deceptive activity appear legitimate, including realistic voice imitations, altered logos that look official, and highly polished text and graphics framed as urgent security requests.
According to the Council, artificial intelligence also allows fraudsters to create links that appear trustworthy, contributing to a rapid rise in advanced, technology-driven fraud attempts.
It noted that AI-powered phishing is responsible for more than 90 per cent of digital breaches, as scammers now craft messages that appear almost perfectly authentic and remove many traditional warning signs.
The Council said these sophisticated techniques require users to remain alert before clicking on any links and to verify the legitimacy of advertisements, promotional messages, or any communication requesting personal or financial information or the disclosure of sensitive data.
As artificial intelligence use expands, the Council explained, the line between authenticity and imitation continues to blur, exposing users to increasingly complex fraud risks. This has increased the need for defensive tools and techniques based on awareness and knowledge to understand the scale of emerging threats.
Strengthening capabilities, the Council said, is essential to provide additional layers of protection against account takeovers and the use of synthetic identities, improve detection accuracy, reduce false alerts, safeguard payment integrity, and support AI-powered prioritisation of investigations, even amid resource and budget constraints.
AI cybersecurity threat in UAE
The Council affirmed that combating AI-enabled phishing and electronic fraud begins at the individual level, through building cyber awareness and understanding the risks associated with malicious use of artificial intelligence.
It cautioned that many products or advertisements circulating on social media may appear exceptionally perfect due to AI-generated images, which fraudsters exploit to mislead users on an unprecedented scale.
Through its weekly Cyber Pulse awareness message, the campaign outlined practical steps to avoid falling victim to AI-driven fraud.
These include avoiding unverified links, checking for spelling or linguistic errors in suspicious messages, verifying information through official or trusted channels, enabling multi-factor authentication—which prevents more than 90 per cent of fraud attempts—and activating security software to detect threats and protect against viruses.
Now in its second year, the Cyber Pulse campaign continues across social media platforms as part of the UAE’s efforts to build a secure cyberspace that protects users from growing digital threats.
The initiative aligns with the nation’s broader vision to strengthen confidence in the digital ecosystem, promote strong cybersecurity culture among families and individuals, and encourage best cyber practices that safeguard privacy and safety during rapid digital transformation.
