Scammers have long been among the lowest of the low, exploiting the most vulnerable members of society – especially the elderly.
But now, these criminals have upped their game by using cutting-edge AI to carry out a shocking new trick.
And this dark innovation has made their schemes more dangerous and harder to detect, putting millions at risk.
Voice mimicking loved ones with AI
Pandora’s box has been opened when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Like any new technology, it will be used for nefarious purposes.
Now scammers have latched on to using AI in order to rip people off.
Many of the scams typically run are fairly obvious and don’t catch many people off guard.
In those cases, the scammers rely on volume and hope to trick one person out of thousands that they try it on.
But this newest scam is much more devious, thanks to its use of AI voice technology.
This scam involves the scammer posing as a relative or loved one who has found themselves in trouble in order to get you to send money.
The new scam mimics the exact voice of the person the scammer is claiming to be.
Philadelphia resident Gary Schildhorn received one such call.
The call came from a local number and the voice sounded exactly like his son.
The voice claimed that he had been in a car accident with a pregnant woman and was at the local jail.
Schildhorn says he isn’t usually one to fall for scams, but they almost got him with this one.
“It was his cadence. It was his tone. It was the words he would use. It was his voice,” he said during an interview on the CNN podcast Terms of Service.
Jennifer DeStefano received a similar call.
This time the voice mimicked her daughter that called in a panic, claiming to have been kidnapped and needing ransom money.
With these sorts of scams on the rise, people will need to be especially careful when answering their phones.
Experts have offered some tips people can use to avoid being duped by these scams.
First, they say when you receive a call from an unknown number, to hang up and call back.
Oftentimes, the scammer is spoofing a number to appear to be local.
They also advise to just take time to doubt the call is who it seems to be coming from.
Scammers rely on a sense of urgency, and will try to induce their victims to quickly fork over money before they have a chance to think about it.
While nobody wants their loved ones to have to wait for help if it truly is an emergency, taking a few minutes to examine what is actually going on isn’t going to hurt anything.
Finally, they advise you to work out a code word with your actual loved ones for cases in which they may need to call for an actual emergency.
It’s a shame that new technology is now being used by unscrupulous individuals to fleece people out of their hard-earned money.
Mimicking the voice of a loved one really is a new low.
But now you have to be careful when answering your phone, even if the voice on the other end of the line sounds familiar.
Have you or someone you know fallen victim to a similar scam? If so, 24/7 Politics’ Editorial Team would appreciate you sharing your story and with your permission may share it in a future article to help prevent other 24/7 Politics readers from falling victim to the latest scams. Send your stories and tips to [email protected] and our team will take a look!
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