Fortunately, the AI voice scams we’ve seen so far are not as intricate or disturbing as this. Most fraudsters using AI voice replicator tools have simply copied the “hi Mum” WhatsApp scam.
The “hi Mum” scam is a common technique where cybercriminals pretend to be friends or relatives of a victim, often claiming to have lost or broken their phone, in order to gain their trust and ask for money.
Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has been urged to take action against this scam. UK consumers have already lost over £500,000 to fraudsters using this trap in the first half of 2023.
Criminals can now attach voice notes or make phone calls that sound exactly like their target’s loved ones, making these schemes much more difficult to detect and prevent, according to Mr. Devane.
Initially, the “hi Mum” scam was done through text messages, which weren’t very convincing. However, scammers have now utilized new technology to clone people’s voices and make messages appear as if they’re coming from the target’s loved ones.
The technology behind these fraudulent attempts is new, but impersonation tricks are already among the most common and successful types of scams. Research from Barclays earlier this year revealed that impersonators account for 35% of all the money stolen by scammers.
In a survey, 40% of Brits who had been targeted by impersonation scams reported receiving social media messages that seemed to be from celebrities or influencers.
Scammers have also resorted to using AI “deepfake” videos where they manipulate footage of people to make them appear to say or do things they haven’t actually done.
Just recently, scammers used an AI-generated “deepfake” video of trusted consumer champion Martin Lewis to deceive victims into giving them money.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
