Experts issue warning about AI voice clone scams
McAfee: 70 percent of Americans were not sure they could tell the difference between an AI voice and the real thing
(InvestigateTV) — So many of us are worried about artificial intelligence (AI) scams, and now the stakes are rising.
AI voice cloning is quickly becoming a go-to tool for scammers, and they only need a three-second audio sample to clone someone’s voice.
Abhishek Karnik, the head of research at McAfee, said in a recent survey of 7,000 people, one in four said they’d experienced an AI voice cloning scam or knew someone who had.
He said the “hey mom scam” is popular right now. It makes people think they’re talking to their child or grandchild.
“Where you try to scare somebody into believing that their child has been in an accident or has been kidnapped, or they lost their voice, they’ve lost a wallet, for example,” he explained. “So, what they do is they regenerate a voice. They play it back to you in the voice of your child or your loved one and then ask for money.”
Another popular use is the IRS scam where they fake someone with an American accent in the voice cloning and they try to make people think they owe money. He said there are tell-tale signs to watch out for to indicate an AI voice scam.
“Getting you in a situation of urgency, anxiety, despair, concern, and so on and so forth,” Karnik cautioned. “Now, typically what would happen is that you react to such situations, and you’re quick on your wallet pulling it out, paying the person, the money that they’re asking for. But the recommendation here, of course, is that, you know, take some time to rationalize the situation.”
He said try to call back the person you think you’re talking to on a trusted number before paying any money.
People could also create a family code word for troubling situations. If a caller knows the word, it verifies who they say they are.
Anyone who ends up in a situation like this should report it to police and the Federal Trade Commission to help alert others learn about a scam going around.
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