Protect Your Bank Account: One Simple Trick to Outsmart AI ‘Voice Clones’

AI Voice Clone Scams: Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

The rise of AI is making it even harder to tell apart real phone calls from fakes. And falling for the fakes could be devastating, leaving your bank account high and dry.

Cheap AI tools make it easier than ever for cyber crooks to rip off people’s identities. Although it’s not available to the public yet, ChatGPT creator OpenAI recently revealed how their tech alone can reproduce convincing voice replicas with just 15 seconds of audio from a person speaking. Around one in four people have experienced an AI voice cloning scam or know someone who has, according to a McAfee study last year.

The Impact of AI Voice Cloning Scams

Fraudsters start by snooping through your social media for videos or making dubious calls to record your voice. Once crooks have what they need, they can use AI to mimic your voice and call friends or family, where the scamming really kicks in.

They can make calls pretending to be you needing money for an emergency. Fortunately, there is a super easy way to avoid potential ruin and expose AI voice clones. And all it requires is one word – a safe word, set up between you, family, and friends.

How to Outsmart AI Voice Clones

Think of it as like a traditional password but one you use among people you know for an alarming call, so you know they are who they claim to be. Come up with a single safe word that you share with each other in person, so next time you get a call where a loved one is asking for money you can demand the code and know whether the caller is real or not.

Professor Hany Farid, from the University of California, told Scientific American: “Right now there is no other obvious way to know that the person you are talking to is who they say they are. Ask each other what the code is every once in a while – because unlike a [computer] password, we don’t use the code word very often, so it is easy to forget.”

Key Signs to Catch an AI Voice Clone

There are other ways to detect an AI voice clone. Digital payment solutions provider Takepayments has shared four key signs to look out for.

1. Unexpected calls demanding urgent financial actions
   Even if the voice sounds like someone you know, an unexpected call which pressures an immediate financial transfer should be treated as a red flag.

2. Inconsistencies in the conversation
   Voice-cloning technology often struggles to create coherent and contextually accurate conversations. If the “person” on the other end contradicts themselves, give information that doesn’t align with what you know – such as using an unknown number – or seems to dodge direct questions, it’s a reason for concern. Also listen for robotic-sounding speech and unnatural pauses or breaks in speech.

3. Background noise that sounds artificial
   Scammers often use background sounds to give the impression they are calling from a specific location, like a bank. However, if these sounds seem looped, overly consistent, or don’t match the context of the call, they could be artificially added post-production to lend authenticity to the scam.

4. Requests for money via cryptocurrency or gift cards
   Cryptocurrency is often the payment method of choice for many criminals as it’s impossible to trace the identity of who money is being sent to.

Protecting Yourself From Scams

By keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:

• Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
• Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
• Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
• If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
• To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
• Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
• If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender, and delete it.
• If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.