Facing a slow-burn confrontation.

6 snips

Feb 20, 2026

James Turgal, a 22-year FBI veteran and Optiv VP focused on cyber risk, talks about a surge in tax scams and IRS fraud. He explores how generative AI and aggregated breached data make phishing, vishing, and smishing far more convincing. He outlines practical protections and where to report incidents. The conversation centers on social engineering as the dominant threat and rising multi-channel attacks.

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INSIGHT

AI Elevates Social-Engineering Sophistication

AI has dramatically improved scammers' ability to craft convincing phishing, vishing, and smishing campaigns.
James Turgal warns large language models can read tone and adapt in real time to manipulate victims.

INSIGHT

Breaches Power Highly Targeted Scams

Threat actors now fuse breached data into large profiles to enable targeted scams instead of random blasts.
James Turgal says data lakes and algorithms let criminals craft highly tactical, personalized attacks.

ADVICE

Pause And Verify Tax-Related Contacts

Breathe and verify communications before reacting to urgent tax claims or payment demands.
Check sender domains for irs.gov and ask unexpected environmental questions to expose AI imposters, then hang up if answers fail.

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