Generative AI has proven to be a helpful companion in increasing the productivity of both individuals and organizations alike. However, this easy access to AI tools has also proven to be helpful for threat actors who are now reportedly cloning the voice of unsuspecting victims and scamming their loved ones into making hasty decisions, such as giving away money in an emergency.
So, how does the whole scam work?
As explained by Mike Scheumack, the Chief Innovation Officer at IdentityIQ, the mechanics of this scam are simple, as threat actors start by recording an individual’s voice, often by collecting audio clips from social media or other online sources, which can be as short as 3 seconds. Once collected, the threat actors feed the samples to an AI program that duplicates the voice, allowing the scammer to manipulate it to say virtually anything, even simulating emotions like fear.
After cloning the voice, the threat actors contact one of the victim’s family members or friends and convince them that they have gotten into a bad situation, possibly a car accident, and need money to get out of it. For instance, Scheumack highlighted a case where a woman received a distressing call from what she believed to be her daughter at a camp. However, unknown to her, threat actors made the call using AI, with the sole purpose of inducing a fight-or-flight reaction, coercing her into taking swift action out of concern for her daughter.
“This is a sophisticated organization, and it’s not one person doing it. You have people that are researching on social media and gathering data about people. Those are not the same people that are going to plug in your voice. You have somebody else that’s going to clone the voice. You have somebody else that’s going to commit the act of calling,” said Scheumack.
How to protect yourself from such scams?
While it is impossible to completely safeguard against such AI voice cloning scams, there are some precautions users can take. These include exercising caution when sharing personal information online, especially content that’s visible to the public, and being skeptical when receiving an urgent call from an unfamiliar number. In such cases, it is advisable to personally contact the loved one and check on their well-being.
2023-09-25 15:05:27