When an Email Looks Legitimate but Isn't: Trust in the Age of AI

John Court opens this episode of the JMOR Tech Talk Show from the Montclair State University campus, beside an old diner, on a warm September Friday. The surface topic is AI hackers and scams, but the deeper question runs through every story he tells: how do you know when to trust? Because an email can look legitimate, a voice can sound familiar, a face can appear authentic, and a message can be perfectly written — and none of it guarantees anything.

The Bank Email That Fooled People Who Were Paying Attention

The first story cuts to the heart of the problem. Hackers fooled a bank using fake government emails, and they did it by spoofing legitimate government domains. Revolut, the digital bank involved, said its own systems were not breached and customer funds were not affected. But Court's point is about what happens inside a person's head when an email appears to come from a trusted source.

"We're taught to detect phishing. Check the sender, check the domain, look for something suspicious," he says. "But what happens when a fraudulent request comes through a legitimate government email domain? They spoofed it."