Voice AI technology is turning into a malicious tool to scam people. This situation highlights the importance of raising public awareness of the potential risks of this technology.
Artificial intelligence has reached astonishing levels of sophistication in recent years. In particular, it canimitate the human voice with remarkable precision. However, a new threat is looming: crooks use algorithms to imitate victims’ relatives and deceive them. These AI scams are increasing rapidly and have already affected thousands of people, causing significant financial losses.
How AI imitating the human voice is used to scam people online
According to an investigation conducted by the Washington Post, artificial intelligence technology can convincingly imitate a person’s voice. Unfortunately, some ill-intentioned individuals are using theAI to develop schemes to defraud people online. Some learning models are able to reproduce a person’s voice exactly with just a few sentences or a few seconds of voice recording.
These models are becoming increasingly widespread and can be used to targeting the elderly and other vulnerable people who are often more inclined to believe emergency calls.
The typical scenario involves a phone call from a loved one or friend in distress. The caller confides that he or she needs financial help to cover legal fees or medical care. The person on the other end of the line is usually convincing. He or she uses key words and an emotional tone similar to that of the person being imitated.. This increases the persuasive strategy to tempt the victim to transfer money.
Scammers may use stolen names and personal information to reinforce the illusion of legitimacy. Victims have reported being traumatized by these scams. Indeed, this kind of malicious act can leave them with significant financial losses and considerable emotional distress.
AI: Imposter scams on the rise
AI has become the tool of choice for criminals to defraud vulnerable people. Impostor scams are a blatant example of the misuse of AI to deceive people. These scams are on the increase in the United States according to the Federal Trade Commission. They are the most frequently reported scams, resulting in considerable losses for victims.
In 2022, more than 5,000 people were swindled out of $11 million out of a total of 36,000 reports. Impostor scams organized from anywhere in the world using AI are particularly insidious and difficult for the authorities to track down.
The scammers often use fraudulent telephone numbers to mask their true identity and location. This makes their arrest and recovery of funds almost impossible. In addition, these scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using social engineering techniques to obtain personal and financial information from their victims.