Kim Komando Daily Tech Update

The fake government permit scam

6 min
Apr 2, 202617 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This episode covers a sophisticated phishing scam targeting homeowners and renovators, where criminals impersonate local planning officials to collect fake permit fees. The host also discusses practical AI applications, specifically using ChatGPT to compare insurance policies and process documents efficiently.

Insights
  • Cybercriminals are leveraging publicly available zoning and building records to personalize phishing attacks, making them highly convincing and difficult to detect
  • AI tools like ChatGPT can dramatically reduce time spent on document comparison and analysis tasks, processing complex information in 30-45 seconds
  • Verification with official local offices before payment is the critical defense against permit fee scams, as recovered funds are virtually impossible once sent
  • ChatGPT's file upload and analysis capabilities enable non-technical users to extract insights from complex documents like insurance policies and legal agreements
Trends
Rise of hyper-personalized phishing attacks using public records data to increase credibility and conversion ratesGrowing adoption of AI document analysis for personal finance and insurance decision-makingIncreasing use of ChatGPT for document comparison and policy analysis among mainstream consumersCybercriminals targeting high-value transactions in real estate and home improvement sectorsAI becoming a practical tool for reducing time spent on routine information processing tasks
Topics
Phishing scams targeting homeownersFake government permit fee fraudReal estate transaction securityChatGPT file upload capabilitiesInsurance policy comparison using AIDocument analysis with artificial intelligenceCybercriminal tactics and social engineeringPersonal finance managementAI applications for document processingSubscription management and financial tracking
Companies
OpenAI
ChatGPT discussed extensively as practical tool for comparing insurance policies and analyzing documents
FBI
Referenced as source confirming the convincingness and prevalence of the fake permit fee scam
People
Reuben
Houston, Texas caller asking about AI tools to compare home insurance policies
Quotes
"On some level, you have to hand it to these cyber criminals. They've come up with a scam that, according to the FBI, is so convincing almost anyone buying or building a new home or renovating one is likely to fall for it."
Kim Komando
"Remember, once the money is sent, you will never get it back."
Kim Komando
"I'll tell you, that is like the best use of AI ever. Especially when you're looking at these policies and they're like pages and pages and pages, right?"
Kim Komando
"It will do all of this Rubin in about 30 seconds, 45 seconds."
Kim Komando
"If you need to process any type of information, if you need to compare documents, legal agreements, whatever it may be, just keep in mind that chatGPT has it going on."
Kim Komando
Full Transcript
Managing money used to take up a lot of my time. I'd spend hours tracking bills, subscriptions, and upcoming payments. Well, thanks to RocketMoney, everything is now organized in one place. It's so much simpler. The app shows every subscription you're paying for and lets you cancel the ones you don't need with only a few taps. Together, RocketMoney users have canceled subscriptions and saved over $880 million. RocketMoney also keeps track of where your money's going and gives you a heads up before your bills are due, or if your account balance is getting low. On average, RocketMoney users save more than $70 in their first month using the app. And here's what I really like about RocketMoney. It can move money into your savings automatically. So you put money aside without even thinking about it. It makes managing your money a whole lot easier. Let RocketMoney help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com.com. That's rocketmoney.com.com. RocketMoney.com.com.com. On some level, you have to hand it to these cyber criminals. They've come up with a scam that, according to the FBI, is so convincing almost anyone buying or building a new home or renovating one is likely to fall for it. Here's how to avoid it. In this new scam, online criminals impersonate city and county planning officials with a phishing campaign designed to trick you into paying for fake permit fees. Criminals tap into publicly available local records of zoning and building applications and get the details of your project. Only then do they strike. The email looks exactly as if it came from your local planning commission office. There is, of course, a link to pay for the fake permits. Do not click the link. Check first with your local offices to verify. Remember, once the money is sent, you will never get it back. Tired of all the AI hype? That's why you need to get my new free weekly newsletter. Sign up now at splashofai.com. Next up, a call from my weekend show, the Kim Kumando show. Enjoy! Every business is asking the same question. How do we make AI work for us? The possibilities are endless and guessing is way too risky. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option. Your competitors are already making their move. This is exactly the solution I turn to. With NetSuite by Oracle, you can put AI to work today. As the number one AI cloud ERP, trusted by over 43,000 businesses, it brings your financials, inventory, commerce, HR and CRM together into one single source of truth, making your AI smarter. It doesn't guess, it knows. It automates routine tasks, delivers insights, cuts costs, and powers fast AI decisions. Now with NetSuite's AI connector, you can take the AI you already trust and connect it straight to your business. This is not another add-on tool. It's built into the system that runs your business. NetSuite helps you stay ahead. If your revenues are at least seven figures, get their free business guide, demystifying AI at netsuite.com.com. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com.com. That's netsuite.com.com. Reuben in Houston, Texas, glad to have you with us. Hi there, Reuben. Hello, Cam. Thanks for taking my question. I am trying to find an AI that I can use that would compare two different home insurance policies for me. I'm having to go through and switch to a new provider. And I've got a couple of PDFs, but I'd like to sort through, read them, and maybe give me a quick comparison or summary of which one is different and how. Boy, I'll tell you, that is like the best use of AI ever. Especially when you're looking at these policies and they're like pages and pages and pages, right? Boy, who wants to read all that if you could even understand most of it, right? So what you do is you have the two PDFs. What I like to do is keep them right on my desktop because it makes it easy for you to find them. And so you fire up chat GPT and then there's a right where you will type in the prompt is that there's a plus sign. And so you tap or click that. And then one of the options will say upload a file. So you have the two different files. And then what I would do is I would say to chat GPT, I want you to be an insurance expert. I want you to compare these two policies, highlight the differences in coverage, costs, exclusions, any type of special clauses, things like that. And then you can also say compare the sections, dwelling, personal property, deductibles, writers. You see where I'm going with all this, right? Right. Yes, I do. And then tell me the pros and cons of each one, what you could also do. What I like to say is give me a comparison table because that gives you just the snapshots. So you're going to get all this. It's going to give you the table. And then you could also say, do you have, which one do you think would be the best one for me? And this is my situation. And it will do all of this. It's just astounding to me. It will do all of this Rubin in about 30 seconds, 45 seconds. Amazing. It is amazing, isn't it? It's just phenomenal. I've had to use chatGPT and I've been doing some using it, the deep research. And because I'm really getting into some analytics with our newsletter subscribers, and wow, it really is something. I mean, if you need to process any type of information, if you need to compare documents, legal agreements, whatever it may be, just keep in mind that chatGPT has it going on.