Stay safe with AI
What never to paste, how to spot a fake voice or video, and how to check an answer before you trust it.
Never paste these
A chatbot is not a locked diary. What you type can be stored, and on many free plans it can be used to improve the tool. Treat every chat like a message to a stranger.
- OTPs, PINs and passwords
- Aadhaar, PAN, passport or bank account numbers
- Card numbers, CVV or UPI PIN
- Other people's phone numbers, addresses or health details
- Your company's private files, client lists or prices, unless your company allows it
Need help with a real document? Replace names and numbers with placeholders first, like [customer name] or [amount]. The answer is just as useful.
Check before you trust
AI can sound sure and still be wrong. It can invent a fact, a number, a law or a link. Use this routine for anything that matters:
- Ask it: "Which parts of your answer are you not sure about?"
- Check every number, date, name and law in a source you trust: an official website, your own records or an expert.
- Open every link it gives. If the page does not exist or does not say the same thing, do not use it.
- For health, money and legal questions, use AI to prepare your questions, then ask a doctor, a bank or a lawyer.
Fake voices, fake videos
AI can copy a voice from a short clip and make a video of a real face. Scammers use this to sound like a relative, a boss or an officer who needs money fast.
- Urgency is the warning sign. "Send money now", "do not tell anyone" or "your account will be blocked" means stop.
- Call back on a number you already have. Not the number that called you.
- Agree a family code word that only you know. Ask for it on any strange call.
- No real officer asks for money on a video call. Police and courts do not "arrest" people on WhatsApp.
If something goes wrong
If you lost money to a fraud in India, call the cyber crime helpline 1930 at once, or report it at cybercrime.gov.in. Then call your bank. Fast reports give the best chance to stop the money.
Use AI at work, the right way
- Follow your company's AI rules. If there are none, ask your manager before you paste work files.
- You are responsible for what you send, even if AI wrote the first draft.
- Say when AI helped, if your school or workplace asks you to.