Current:Home > InvestScammers use AI to mimic voices of loved ones in distress -Summit Capital Strategies
Scammers use AI to mimic voices of loved ones in distress
SignalHub View
Date:2025-04-06 11:09:57
Artificial intelligence is making phone scams more sophisticated — and more believable. Scam artists are now using the technology to clone voices, including those of friends and family.
The disturbing trend is adding to mounting losses due to fraud. Americans lost nearly $9 billion to fraud last year alone – an increase of over 150% in just two years, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The AI scam, which uses computer-generated voice, has left a trail of emotional devastation. Jennifer DeStefano, a mother, recounted during a U.S. Senate meeting her terrifying encounter with scammers who used the voice of her 15-year-old daughter, claiming they had her.
"Mom, these bad men have me. Help me, help me, help me," DeStefano said she was told over the phone.
But her daughter was safe in her bed.
Kathy Stokes, the AARP director of fraud prevention, said younger people actually experience fraud and financial loss more often than older people, but it's the older generation who often have so much to lose.
Pete Nicoletti, a cyber security expert at Check Point Software Technologies, said common software can recreate a person's voice after just 10 minutes of learning it.
To protect against voice cloning scams, Nicoletti recommends families adopt a "code word" system and always call a person back to verify the authenticity of the call. Additionally, he advises setting social media accounts to private, as publicly available information can be easily used against individuals.
- In:
- AI
veryGood! (78)
Related
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Sculpture commemorating historic 1967 Cleveland summit with Ali, Jim Brown, other athletes unveiled
- Powerball ticket sold in California wins $1.765 billion jackpot, second-biggest in U.S. lottery history
- This Australian writer might be the greatest novelist you've never heard of
- Trump's 'stop
- NASA says its first asteroid samples likely contain carbon and water, 2 key parts of life
- Australian minister credits improved relations with China for the release of a detained journalist
- Indigenous leader of Guatemalan protests says they are defending democracy after election
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- James McBride wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize for fiction for “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store”
Ranking
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Climate rules are coming for corporate America
- John Cena's Super-Private Road to Marrying Shay Shariatzadeh
- Actors strike sees no end in sight after studio negotiations go awry
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Powerball ticket sold in California wins $1.765 billion jackpot, second-biggest in U.S. lottery history
- The case of a Memphis man charged with trying to enter a Jewish school with a gun is moving forward
- Malaysia questions Goldman Sachs lawsuit over 1MDB settlement, saying it’s premature
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
Peter Thomas Roth Flash Deal: Get $156 Worth of Retinol for $69 and Reduce Wrinkles Overnight
UK police on the scene after Kenyan plane diverted to land at Stansted Airport with fighter escort
Trump says Netanyahu ‘let us down’ before the 2020 airstrike that killed a top Iranian general
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Australian minister credits improved relations with China for the release of a detained journalist
Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2% in 2024 as inflation moderates
US arranging evacuation flights for Americans who want to leave Israel as war with Hamas rages