Not sure if anyone else here has noticed the same shift, but it feels like social engineering has leveled up fast over the last year because of AI. A lot of scams don’t even need malware anymore the “attack” is just convincing content. I’m seeing more AI-generated profile photos, AI-written conversations that sound way more human than the old scam templates, and even deepfake/voice-cloned audio being used to add urgency or credibility. It’s getting to the point where the classic red flags (bad grammar, weird formatting, obvious stock photos) aren’t reliable anymore, especially for the average person.

I started looking for tools that can help quickly flag synthetic content while browsing and came across a browser extension called AI Blocker. I’m not treating it as proof of anything, but it’s been helpful as a quick sanity-check when something feels “off.” That said, I’m sure there are better tools and workflows people here use.

For those who deal with social engineering regularly: what are your best practices for verifying authenticity now? Do you rely more on OSINT-style checks, metadata/reverse image workflows, specific detection tools, or just process controls (verification callbacks, codewords, etc.)? Also curious if anyone has recommendations for tools similar to what I mentioned especially for detecting AI-generated images, fake profile photos, or voice cloning attempts.