Scammer reveals how AI helped him swindle thousands from Americans

By Ben Barry

A former scammer has revealed the AI-assisted tactics he used to scam Americans out of more than $174,000 — and exactly how to spot a fraudster.

The scammer, known as James Green, conned Americans for three years, mainly targeting Americans thanks to his native accent.

The criminal from Washington, U.S., got involved in the con after moving to Cambodia in January 2020. Initially, James worked for call centers, but claimed he was sought out for scam work due to his convincing American accent.

The U.S. native earned about $74,000 a year, working six days a week — snagging a 5% commission on the money he helped to steal.

James said he worked in a call center surrounded by around 30 scammers, who would pay data suppliers for their victims' details.

Another team member would call their victim and pretend to work for an airline or a bank. They would tell the victim a credit card had been opened in their name or that their flight had been cancelled.

The victim would then be transferred to the "FBI fraud team" — who James worked for. He would claim the victim was being investigated for money laundering and ask them to send bank statements and income details.

He said they often video-called victims through Teams or Signal using AI software, which altered their faces and created a fake FBI office background with the seal and American flags.

Finally, the victim would be transferred to a third line, where they were convinced to deposit cash via bank transfer so it could be "checked" for money laundering. Once the money was sent, the scammers would steal it.

Now James is speaking out to help people avoid being scammed, after he quit the con in 2026 because he "didn't want to scam people anymore."

"We would have AI reporting stations that would alter our face," he said.

"We would have the FBI background, with the seal and everything on the wall.

"We would have the dangling FBI badge and the cap they wear.

"I'd use an AI tool to change my face. We would tell them to go on Teams or Signal and get on a video call.

"This way they can see a human in an FBI office and believe the scam is real."

After moving to Cambodia, James claims he started working in traditional call centers in the country, before moving to scam centers in 2022 to earn a higher salary.

"My heart was never in scamming people; the longest I stayed in one place was five months," he said.

"I have worked in five different call centers from the beginning of 2025 until now.

"The call centers have different staff from loads of countries, including the U.S., Canada, France and Africa.

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"They wanted to hire me because of my American accent. I would play the role of an FBI agent."

The scam would start with a scammer saying, "good morning/afternoon, this is David Winston/Latoya Brown…speaking on behalf of Citi Bank Fraud Department.

"Am I speaking to..."

James would then either explain how a credit card had been set up in their name or a flight had been cancelled.

The scammer, who originally shared his story with Talk To The Press, said: "If it were an airline, we would say they have cancelled a flight and ask why they cancelled it.

"They would tell us they didn't have a flight booked, and we would list off their details, including date of birth, phone number and their address.

"We would say that if someone stole your identity, you need to report this to the FBI.

"The scammer would transfer the call to us, and we would pick up the call as the FBI."

From the initial contact to receiving the money, the scammer said it would be a four-day process.

The scammer would ask them to file a report and send all their bank statements.

They would persuade victims to send money over that "would be checked for money laundering."

"We would tell them that they are already being investigated for money laundering, and we have an account in their name," the scammer said.

"Then we would object to the money laundering process, in which they would have to send all their bank statements over and their income.

"They would submit funds to be checked, and that is how we would get the money.

"I have successfully got a customer to deposit $24,000 before."

The scammer said his working hours would be 12-hour days, and he would work 9 p.m. till 9 a.m. to accommodate U.S. time zones.

James said he wants to share their story to make people aware of how scammers are working.

The scammer said: "I know the process from start to finish. I hope my story will prevent people from being scammed."

Top tips to know if you're being scammed:

• Always ask and write down the name of the person who has called you
• If they sound desperate to keep you on the phone, it will be a scam
• An FBI agent will never call you to ask for sensitive information