AI shopping bots could increase scam, fraud & data privacy risks

Banks are warning that employing artificial intelligence (AI) agents to assist with online shopping could increase the risk of consumers being exposed to scam, fraud and data privacy breaches.

A group of banks and lenders including the UK's NatWest, the US' Bank of America and Capital One, New Zealand's ASB Bank, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia have released a report this week saying that customers were enthusiastic about the potential for shoping using AI agents, but warned that the technology was advancing faster than industry standards and consumer protections.

"Consumers are unclear if AI will act in their ‌interests," ⁠the report said.

"They are concerned that AI agents may buy the wrong thing or spend too much – or even worse, lose their money to scams and fraud. They are not sure whether they will be protected or who they ​will need to go ​to if things ⁠go wrong."

Could that AI bot accidentally expose you to fraud?

The report highlighted potential risks from allowing AI to shop on a consumer's behalf, such as holding card details and entering them directly onto websites.

Technology companies like OpenAI, Meta, Google and Anthropic are increasingly using AI agents as shopping tools, where it could find products and make purchases on consumers' behalf.

Meanwhile retailers are also working quickly to harness the new technology by trying to influence chatbots' recommendations - John Lewis, for example, said in September 2026 that searches from AI agents had increased from 0.3% to 2.5% in a year.

This article draws on reporting from Reuters and Fox Business.

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