FTC Warns That Scammers Are Cloning Your Relatives’ Voice To Steal Your Money With Phone Scams
In These Phone Scams “When The Scammer Calls You, He’ll Sound Just Like Your Loved One.”
That panicky call from a relative? It could be a thief using a voice clone, FTC warns about these phone scams!
For years, a common scam has involved getting a call from someone purporting to be an authority figure, like a police officer, urgently asking you to pay money to help get a friend or family member out of trouble.
Now, federal regulators warn, such a phone scam call could come from someone who sounds just like that friend or family member — but is actually a scammer using a clone of their voice.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert urging people to be vigilant for calls using voice clones generated by artificial intelligence, one of the latest techniques used by criminals hoping to swindle people out of money.
“All [the scammer] needs is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice — which he could get from content posted online — and a voice-cloning program,” the commission warned. “When the scammer calls you, he’ll sound just like your loved one.”
Phone Scams Use Ai To Enhance Their Family Emergency Schemes
You get a call. There’s a panicked voice on the line. It’s your grandson. He says he’s in deep trouble — he wrecked the car and landed in jail. But you can help by sending money. You take a deep breath and think. You’ve heard about grandparent scams. But darn, it sounds just like him. How could it be a scam? Voice cloning, that’s how.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a far-fetched idea out of a sci-fi movie. We’re living with it, here and now.
A scammer could use AI to clone the voice of your loved one on phone scams any tie they want to. All he needs is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice — which he could get from content posted online (on social media) — and a voice-cloning program.
Although it may sound just like that relative or friend, the FTC says consumers should know about the possibility of voice cloning.
“All he needs is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice — which he could get from content posted online — and a voice-cloning program,” the FTC said in its notice. “When the scammer calls you, he’ll sound just like your loved one.”
How To Avoid These Phone Scams?
So how can you tell if a family member is in trouble or if it’s s phone scam using a cloned voice?
- Don’t trust the voice.
- Call the person who supposedly contacted you and verify the story.
- Use a phone number you know is theirs.
- If you can’t reach your loved one, try to get in touch with them through another family member or their friends.
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