For National Consumer Protection Week, Mailin’ It! tackles the growing threat of AI-powered fraud with Stephanie Glad, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Program Manager for Mail Fraud. Stephanie tells Karla and Jeff how scammers are leveraging sophisticated technology, such as voice cloning and AI-generated text, to make their schemes more personal, urgent, and difficult to detect. She also gives listeners important tips on how to identify these advanced scams, protect their personal information and finances, and the critical first steps to take if they suspect they’ve become a victim.
In an era where technology is advancing at a breathtaking pace, so are the methods of those who seek to exploit it. This episode of Mailin’ It! pulls back the curtain on the darker side of artificial intelligence, revealing how fraudsters are creating hyper-realistic scams that can fool even the most discerning eye. From voice clones that can mimic a loved one in distress to flawless phishing emails, the line between real and fake has never been more blurred. Joined by Stephanie Glad, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Program Manager for Mail Fraud, Karla and Jeff explore the anatomy of these sophisticated crimes, including the terrifyingly effective "Grandparent scam." Stephanie, a security expert who’s worked for both the FBI and CIA, takes our co-hosts through the subtle red flags to watch for—like inconsistencies in video calls and requests for payment via cryptocurrency. Their discussion also touches on preventative strategies, such as multi-factor authentication and what to do if you've been targeted. This is a must-listen for all of us trying to safely navigate our increasingly complex digital world.
Karla
Hi, everybody. Welcome to Mailin’ It!, the official podcast of the United States Postal Service. I'm Karla Kirby.
Jeff
And I'm Jeff Marino. For National Consumer Protection Week, which runs from March one through March seven, we're tackling a topic that unfortunately deals with the darker side of technology that everybody's talking about. Fraudsters are now using artificial intelligence to scam people. It's not so much that the scams themselves are different, it's that AI makes them easier for bad people to create and easier for victims to believe. They're doing it through AI generated photos and even voice clones that can mimic a real person.
Karla
That's right, Jeff. And the goal is the same as always— to steal people's money. The theme for this year's National Consumer Protection Week really says it all: “The scam may be AI, but the loss is real.” To help us understand this new frontier of fraud, we're joined by a special guest. Stephanie Glad is the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Program Manager for Mail Fraud. She's here to tell us how to spot these sophisticated scams and protect ourselves. Inspector Glad, welcome to Mailin’ It!
Stephanie
Thank you so much. It's an absolute pleasure to be here.
Jeff
So, Stephanie, before we get into our conversation about National Consumer Protection Week and artificial intelligence threats, it'd be great if you could tell us a little bit about yourself. You used to be an FBI analyst, right?
Stephanie
The Inspection Service is a second career for me. I've spent the first half of my career in National Security for six years. I was an intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency, and at that point, I transitioned to Supervisory Intelligence Analyst for the FBI, where I worked everything from counter-terrorism to counter-intelligence and cyber issues. In 2018, I transitioned to the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Karla
Well, Stephanie, that's quite an impressive background. What was it about the Postal Inspection Service that piqued your interest?
Stephanie
Thank you so much for that. I, you know, I wanted to get more into an operational role within my job, and I decided to become an agent. So I started looking around at the, the different opportunities available to me. And my husband, who was a SUSA at the Northern District of Illinois at the time, recommended I look into the Postal Inspection Service, at which time I said, I have no idea what that is.
Karla
So you stumped me with one acronym, and normally I'm pretty astute. You said your husband was a SUSA?
Stephanie
Yes. He was a Special US Attorney.
Karla
Okay. Add that to our list of acronyms.
Jeff
I'm adding to the acronym list. Yes, for sure.
Stephanie
But when I started doing my research, I realized that the US Postal Inspectors had an absolutely phenomenal reputation, not only with the US Attorney's Office, but within federal law enforcement in general. And I decided it was definitely something that I wanted to do. I was drawn to the operational nature of the work that we do here and the autonomy that Inspectors are given. I've been an Inspector since 2018, and the Mail Fraud National Program Manager since last year. Like I said, we are an absolutely, an amazing, well-kept secret within federal law enforcement, and I found it to be a great organization with an important mission, a stellar history, and a great reputation.
Jeff
So how do those skills that you developed working in the intelligence community help you in your current role fighting mail fraud and protecting consumers?
Stephanie
Sure. On its face, it doesn't seem like a natural transition, but I found that the core skills of things like intellectual curiosity and strong interpersonal skills are directly transferable. My experience with financial and international crimes definitely helped me have a natural pathway to my current role. And it wasn't until I joined the Inspection Service that I fully grasped the value of proactive consumer protection. The Inspection Service is a place where we can do both great work and good work. You know, solving major cases while helping people avoid victimization in the first place is incredibly fulfilling for me and important work.
Karla
So this year's National Consumer Protection Week focuses specifically on AI and fraud. Why is this topic so critical right now?
Stephanie
That is such a great question. You know, most consumers have heard about scams designed to steal their identity and ultimately steal their money. But now with the help of artificial intelligence or AI, it's familiar scams that have become so much more realistic using voice cloning, phishing emails, text messages, and fake offers that help make contact from scammers appear legitimate. AI has made it incredibly difficult for the average person to spot a scam. Scammers are using AI to make fraud feel personal, urgent, and real. From fake voices and images to long-term relationship building, AI scams are designed to gain trust and steal money or personal information. In the past, we would tell people, you know, look for grammatical errors or awkward phrasing. But now with generative AI, they can create flawless and even convincing text messages and emails. Voice-cloning technology can mimic someone's voice from a ten second audio clip. AI generated images are often used to fake disaster relief fundraisers. These trick well-meaning people into donating to criminals, a constant battle for law enforcement fighting fraud. These scams are getting so believable that it can even be hard to convince victims that they've been deceived. That's why consumer education on our part is so much more critical than ever.
Jeff
You know, every year we sit down and talk with an Inspector about the, you know, the Consumer Protection Weeks, and it seems like it's like a whack-a-mole every year. These scammers are coming up with something different to just stay one step ahead of everybody. It's crazy. So could you gimme some examples of the types of scams that criminals are using artificial intelligence for?
Stephanie
Sure. A lot of the things that we've seen, honestly, it's the same old scams, but with the advent of AI and technology, they're just getting a lot better at, at perpetrating it, right? Right. So they generally fall into two different categories. There's the text-based scams and then image-based scams. Text-based scams can be anything that AI can write, convincing emails or text messages for phishing or smishing attacks, for example, when you get that text message that says, the USPS is trying to get in touch with you because your package is lost. Or it can be used to create fake social media profiles for romance and investment scams. It can also build fraudulent websites with AI-powered chatbots that lure victims into clicking malicious links. Now, the image and voice-based scams, they can get very personal. All of us have so much information about ourselves online that it's really easy to gather information and really for the, the bad actors to, to create bespoke scams specifically for you. The criminals use AI to create realistic images for fake IDs or social media profiles, and we're seeing a lot of AI generated videos of celebrities promoting fake products. The most frightening thing is the use of voice clones and things like grandparent scams.
Karla
So tell us more about the grandparent scam. That sounds really bad, and I wanna say there was a movie that was based on a grandparent scam.
Stephanie
Yeah, it's, it's really awful. These criminals use snippets of a loved one. Oftentimes your grandchild's voice that they've gotten from social media, all it takes is about 10 seconds of that. They'll create a frantic phone call claiming that they're in trouble and that they need money immediately. These deceptions are designed to create panic and urgency to impair irrational judgment. For example, your grandchild's been in an accident or they've been arrested in a foreign country. My grandmother, actually, a couple of years ago, got a call like this, and she was of, of enough sound mind to hang up the phone, but she immediately called me and she said, Stephanie, are you okay? What's going on? And I said, grandma, it's okay. What are you talking about? She said, I just got a call that said you were in a hospital because you were in a car accident and I needed to send money. I said, grandma, no, I'm, I'm just fine. I'm not on vacation. I'm not in another country. So even those of us who fight fraud for a living can be targeted for this sort of thing.
Jeff
It seems like the, the sophistication of the scams is getting bigger and, and more prevalent. But you said something earlier that it's the same old scams. So how, how are they using the sophistication? They're just going after the same people with the same, asking for money all the time?
Stephanie
Yeah. You know what, it's, it's incredibly challenging, especially for law enforcement, but there's still some telltale signs that that can help you be proactive and, and help yourself.
Jeff
So, yeah. So what are those red flags we should be looking for?
Stephanie
Sure, sure. So with regard to a digital footprint, so if somebody's contacting you that you've never met before in person, especially if they have a very little social media presence. So they're, they might have a page on Instagram or Facebook, but it's not populated with a lot of followers, a lot of postings. If it's a brand new account with, like I said, very few friends or photos that don't look quite right, if it's something that makes you feel a little bit off it, it probably is. If you get unusual requests, you get a request to move the conversation from a trusted platform, for example, a direct message or something like that to a, an encrypted private platform, that might be something that you should be weary of. If you're asked to pay for something using gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrencies, that's probably a scam.
Stephanie
Legitimate businesses and government agencies will never ask for a payment this way. If there's technical glitches with video and audio calls, look for inconsistencies. While the AI is getting very, very good and developing very quickly, there's certain things that haven't developed fully all the way. Is the lip syncing slightly off? Is the voice flat or emotionless? Does the video seem jerky or have weird lighting? These are things to be on the lookout for. If it seems to good be true, that axiom's pretty accurate. Be wary of guaranteed high financial returns, pressure to recruit others or exclusive investment opportunities that your new friend might have for you. And verify the source, check the email addresses of, of people that are sending you emails or text messages to see that if they actually match the company's domain name. For example, an email from USPS will end in@usps.gov, not@uspsmail.com.
Jeff
Yeah, we've seen some of those, haven't we?
Karla
So, Stephanie, those are great tips. So for our listeners who may spot these red flags, what can they do to protect themselves?
Stephanie
Sure. Prevention is absolutely the best defense, and we, as the US Postal Inspection Service and law enforcement want to empower you, the consumer. So some of the warning signs you can look out for that I mentioned previously, you know, thin or inconsistent online profiles, they might have few friends. They're new accounts, overly polished language or images that don't quite match names or details, suspicious emails or websites that you receive that you don't remember reaching out to that company or that person ever before. Small misspellings or non-secure websites or email addresses that don't quite match the official domain, request to move off of trusted platforms. Pressure to communicate through encrypted apps or private email, audio or video inconsistencies, voices that don't quite match or delayed lip sync, strange lighting or jerky movements. Those offers that are way too good to be true, guaranteed profits, urgency or request to recruit others.
Stephanie
Please, please, please never send money to someone that you do not know. If you get an unusual financial request from a friend or a family member, hang up and call them back on the number that you know to be true for them. Enable your multifactor authentication with regard to your email, social media, financial accounts, where you have to verify your identity using a password. For example, enable multi-factor authentication on your email, your social media, and your financial accounts. This is where you have to identify yourself using a password and, for example, a code they send to your phone. Also, use a password manager to create strong and unique passwords. Limit what you share. Be careful about what you post online, especially with regard to personal information, including your birthdate or the photos of your ID or your family members. And always be cautious of helpful strangers. If someone offers to set up an investment account for you, that's a major red flag.
Karla
So what makes that a red flag? That, that's interesting. So somebody would just randomly reach out and say, I wanna set up an account for you. Mm-Hmm
Stephanie
It's, it does sound a little awkward, but people very much think that they develop a relationship with someone. It's someone that they trust and, you know, if, if it's a friend, why would they try and scam you? Right? So they're trying to get you an opportunity that they've themselves have been profiting from. So why not trust them to set up an account for you?
Jeff
Well, I think that's something that we've, we've learned from previous years talking with the Inspectors about the scams, is they build relationships online and, and, you know, just kind of say, hey, we're friends and, and you start to trust this person over time. It's not something that you pull the trigger on and send money the first time around. It's something they build a relationship with, and then they get a, hey, let's go into a private messaging kind of thing. And that's maybe where the things take a turn.
Karla
Yeah. But I, I just still can't believe, like you said, somebody you haven't met in real life and you would just send them money. Mm-Hmm
Jeff
So if someone's thinks they're a victim or feels like they have been scammed what's the first thing they should do? Or what are the first couple steps they should do?
Stephanie
That's a great question. You know, anyone can be targeted by these scammers, anyone and everyone. The first thing to do is to act quickly. If you feel like you've been the victim of a scam, don't let embarrassment or shame stop you from reporting this information. First, stop all communication with a scammer immediately. Preserve any messages or records that you might have. Contact your bank or your payment provider for your credit cards, and report the fraud to try and stop any transaction or reverse them. Report it to local law enforcement as well as the Postal Inspection Service. Now, you can call us at +1 877-876-2455, or go online at usps.gov/report. Also, contact the FTC and the FBI's IC3, which is their Internet Crime Complaint Center to report the account on the platform where it occurred. Change your passwords, enable multifactor authentication, and place a fraud alert or credit freeze. If you'd shared sensitive data, talk to your friends, family, or counselor. Being scammed can be emotionally damaging experience, but remember, it's not your fault. And if you reported immediately, you can help both yourself and others from being victimized.
Karla
So we have yet another acronym to add FTC for our listeners. What is that?
Stephanie
Absolutely. The FTC is the Federal Trade Commission. They're an important partner with us in combating and fighting fraud.
Karla
So, beyond educating the public, what else is the Postal Service doing to fight back against these scams?
Stephanie
Sure. Like I said, fighting fraud is one of the main things that we do at the Inspection Service. We have a multi-layered approach. Our Postal employees, including clerks and carriers, are first line of defense. The Postal Inspection Service and USPS train them to recognize when customers and consumers might be a victim, especially our elderly customers. Those customers might be pressured to mail money or gift cards quickly. National Consumer Protection Week, this year running March first through the seventh, is a large scale public awareness campaign. It includes digital signs in major airports like LaGuardia and Dulles, and bus wraps in cities like Seattle and Salt Lake City. We have a dedicated webpage where you can seek more resources at uspis.gov/ncpw-2026with more information. We also partner with organizations like the AARP and FTC to ensure vital information reaches our senior communities, because they're often prime targets for these fraudsters.
Karla
Stephanie, you mentioned that our postal clerks are like a first line of defense. What type of training are we providing those postal clerks to help them identify somebody who may be targeted?
Stephanie
Absolutely. We have 650,000 employees here at the US Postal Service, and they're an incredible resource for us at the Inspection Service. We provide them with training, with regard to the kinds of scams that are going on, the kinds of things that they should be weary of. They're also, they see their customers on a fairly regular basis, and they know when something just doesn't feel right. So we've often had our clerks report to us about somebody, especially a senior citizen sending out something such as money orders or gift cards to people that they don't know, and they feel like they have to send it immediately, and they have to send it regularly, and they talk to those customers about the, the situation that they're in. And oftentimes we have our clerks identifying scammers and working with the Inspection Service to stop that individual from, from losing their money. And it's, it's a great resource for us to, to rely on, again, our, our employees are incredibly empathetic and sympathetic with our, with our consumers and our customers, and we appreciate their attention to the things that just might not seem right. They care a great deal about their customers, and it's incredibly helpful to us.
Karla
I noticed, Stephanie, that you mentioned that you partner with organizations like AARP. Do you find that more seniors are targeted, or is this prevalent across all age groups?
Stephanie
We find that every single community constituency is targeted. It really depends on what the scammer is looking for. Oftentimes, they'll target our elderly and senior communities because they have, they're more trusting, they have more savings because they've been working their entire lives. They have sometimes cognitive issues. But it really depends because I've seen every level of socioeconomic person, I've seen every level of education targeted and, and scammed. And it really just, what is your vulnerability? That's what these scammers are looking for. So people who are mostly falling for the smishing or those text scams, they're not our seniors. They're not even people who are in my generation. They're those Gen-Zers who have grown up with technology and grown up with phones, you know, attached to their hips, and they're constantly pressing the texts that they get. So they're the ones who are falling more so for, for those kinds of things. So really it's, it's across the board now. Certainly there are, there are groups that are targeted more because of certain issues, but everyone can be a target.
Jeff
Equal opportunity. When we were talking about ways that you can check or verify things, you were talking about the voice scamming and the video and the images and stuff. I know there are websites out there where you can submit a photo or submit something and say, “Hey, is this AI?” Is that something people should be considering doing?
Stephanie
Absolutely. Trust but verify, right. If you're having a conversation, you receive a text message, you receive an email, and you're just not sure about it, you know, absolutely. Go online to check to see if it's, you do a reversed Google search on something to see if it's a stock image. Have trusted partners such as a family member or a friend that you can trust that if you're called about something and they want you to do something very quickly, you have a code word or a code phrase to know that you're conversing with the right person. It's just incredibly important to not trust everything that always comes in. No one is entitled to your time. No one's entitled to your money. So never feel bad about having to check something.
Jeff
The Inspection Service partners with other, other agencies on this consumer fraud week every year. How do we know if we're winning?
Stephanie
That's a great question. We know we're winning when the amount of reported fraud goes down, even though we know that we're not getting a hundred percent of victims reporting. We know we're winning when people are empowered with the ability to be proactive, to prevent themselves from being scammed. But at the end of the day, we need to be right 100% of the time. The scammers only need to be right once, and if one person is victimized, that's one too many for us. So it's incredibly important work that we have to remain consistent at. And, you know, just knowing that we're providing people with the tools that they need to protect themselves is a win in my book.
Jeff
I was gonna ask about the scale of these scams. Like, do we know how much money people are losing to these scams every year?
Stephanie
The FTC collects that kind of information, and in 2024, the loss was in the billions. But again, we know that not to be accurate, because we know people aren't reporting it 100% of the time. So it's the loss to us consumers is absolutely astronomical.
Jeff
And some people are losing a lot, some people are losing a lot less. Right. But it all adds up. That's how many people are falling victim to this every year?
Karla
It's staggering. The numbers are staggering. I think, you know, when we've had these talks previously, the billions of dollars. But one of the things that is always interesting or intriguing when we have these conversations is the wide net that the US Postal Service Inspection Service covers. You know, we talk about if it's specifically dealing with mail. So, we're talking about AI, right? And we're talking about phone calls. Where does the Inspection Service come into play with those types of investigations?
Stephanie
So, coming into the Inspection Service, I realize that we have an incredibly deep bench and wide breadth of violations that we cover over 200 federal statutes we investigate criminally, right? So while on its face, a lot of the investigations that we look into don't necessarily seem to fall under our jurisdiction, I always like to say, if it touches the mail, and everything touches the mail, we get to investigate it. So oftentimes you'll see a lot of these cyber enabled crimes, right? So somebody is sending you a direct message on a social media platform, or somebody's sending you an email, or you'll get a phone call. But oftentimes they need to go back to using the mail to, to mail out their checks or the gift cards that they're asking for their victims or their targets to send them. So it always has a mail nexus, and it's just finding what that is to determine, you know, how we can best investigate.
Jeff
Well, Stephanie, this has been quite informative and honestly a little scary about how much the technology's advanced from some of the scams that we've talked about over the last couple years. Before we let you go, if there was one thing you'd want a listener to take away from this conversation, what would that be?
Stephanie
I think it's absolutely never feel ashamed or embarrassed. If you feel like you've been the victim of a crime, always report it immediately. You can do so again at uspis.gov/report or call 877-876-2455. Listen, these fraudsters are professionals. They're experts at deception reporting. It is the only way we can track these criminals and prevent them from victimizing others.
Karla
Well, Stephanie, definitely some great information. Scary but informative.
Jeff
Thanks for joining us today and talking about this. Appreciate it.
Stephanie
Thank you so much.
Karla
It's time again for one of my favorite parts of the podcast, Did You Know? where we look at some interesting and lesser-known facts about the Postal Service. What do you have for us, Jeff?
Jeff
Well, I've got an interesting one today, and it ties into our conversation. Did you know that the investigation that led to Al Capone's arrest was led by a former US Postal Inspector?
Karla
I did not know that. Tell me more about it.
Jeff
I'll tell you about Elmer Lincoln Irey. He was born in Missouri in 1888, and after getting his law degree at Georgetown, became a clerk for the Chief Postal Inspector when he was just 21 years old.
Karla
And he became an investigator?
Jeff
Well, he was promoted from clerk to Postal Inspector pretty quickly in his career. Then in 1919, he was transferred with five other Postal Inspectors to form a new intelligence unit at the US Treasury Department. Irey was chosen to lead this group, and they would become the main criminal investigation wing of the IRS. They even made a film about them in 1947, called “The T-Men.”
Karla
And these are the individuals who went after Capone?
Jeff
It's fair to say there was a big team effort, but Irey was the man who assembled that team. About 100 “T-Men” were involved in a three-year investigation of the “Chicago Outfit,” which ended with Capone behind bars.
Karla
I can't imagine he had a bigger case than that during his career.
Jeff
Well, it was definitely his most famous case, but Irey held his position as chief of the IRS Intelligence Unit for 23 years through five Presidential administrations—longer than anyone in history. And during his tenure, his T-Men prosecuted about 15,000 people with a 90% conviction rate.
Karla
Now, that's the kind of efficiency the USPS always strives for.
Karla
So, Jeff, as always, with the Consumer Protection Week, we always have a great guest that comes in and provides information for our listeners. I have to tell you, this AI, this voice scam is extremely scary.
Jeff
Yeah, like I said, it feels like the Inspectors are always playing whack-a-mole, trying to stop the scammers, and they always try to jump one step ahead. But this technology, this artificial intelligence technology, is a little scary about how advanced it's, it's gotten so quickly. So wishing everybody the best. Protect yourselves. Change your passwords. Use passwords, strong passwords.
Karla
Use MFA Yeah. And trust, but verify. That was a great lesson indeed.
Jeff
But verify indeed.
Karla
That's all for this episode of Mailin’ It! Don't forget to subscribe to Mailin’ It! wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss the next episode, and follow along on Instagram @USPostalService, X @USPS, Facebook and YouTube.com/@usps.