Submitted by Global Scam Watch on

normalization

I recently read an article by The White Hatter, a blogger who focuses on cyber safety for youth. Their article discussed how new age assurance algorithms could create a surge in phishing scams aimed at teenagers. The examples were compelling, but the moment I finished reading, I began considering the bigger picture. 

🪤The Fake Age Verification Trap

The introduction of automated age verification systems across major platforms does not just affect young people. It also creates an environment where adults and seniors can be manipulated with frightening ease. The announcements around companies such as Google deploying facial age estimation systems has opened the door for a new class of fraud blending old phishing tricks with new identity harvesting methods.

Beyond the Youth Demographic 

The White Hatter examined the youth angle, and while this issue is serious, the broader implications deserve attention. Every time a major platform introduces a new verification process, criminals watch closely. They pay attention to the language used, the steps required, and the appearance of the verification screens. Once users see these processes inside their legitimate accounts, criminals can imitate them with almost no resistance. The concept of a platform asking for identification no longer feels unusual and this shift has given scammers the perfect disguise.

Several reports indicate criminals now send messages similar in context and design to platform security updates claiming a user must complete a required age check to keep an account active. The link inside the message leads to a cloned verification page where the criminal then builds a very legitimate looking multi step process often more elaborate than the real thing. The victim is instructed to upload a scan of a government identification card, followed by a selfie and sometimes a short video clip including spoken words. The page may also request a credit card number for what the scammer calls a temporary age validation hold. These pages often include realistic countdown timers and warnings the account will be locked if the verification is not completed; urgency is almost always a trap.

The Commoditization of Scams

There are emerging phishing templates where criminals have begun asking for additional details that seem disconnected from age verification. Some pages request a backup email address, a mother’s maiden name, or the answer to a previous security question. These scattered pieces of information are exactly what modern artificial intelligence systems can combine into a complete social engineering file. Criminals can then impersonate the victim, reset passwords, or contact support departments with enough verified details to defeat identity checks.

What makes this trend so dangerous is the slow normalization of identity uploads on legitimate platforms. When age verification is framed as a routine requirement, people become conditioned to provide images of their identification, live photos, or video clips. Criminals have seized this opportunity to create very believable phishing schemes. 

Scammers have learned the more a victim is asked to do, the more legitimate the process feels. The result is a new category of phishing blending identity theft, credit card fraud, synthetic identity creation, and personal detail harvesting into a single event. Artificial intelligence tools then assemble these fragments into a convincing replica of the victim. This replica can pass automated age checks, automated customer service gates, and even some bio-metric systems.

In their article the White Hatter warned youth would be targeted, and while this warning is valid, adults are the larger target pool for criminals who want credit card numbers, identification documents, and personal history of real financial value. These scams are not about failing age verification, they are about exploiting the existence of age verification. 

If the public becomes accustomed to identification uploads, criminals will continue to refine their fake systems. The result will be a new generation of fraud attacks mostly indistinguishable from legitimate platform processes. Without widespread awareness, many people will not know the difference until their identity has been replicated, sold, or used as the foundation of a financial crime.

For more on this topic visit The Wire Hatter