You may feel confident in your ability to avoid becoming a victim of cyber scams. You know what to look for, and you won’t let someone fool you.
Then you receive a phone call from your son, which is unusual because he rarely calls. You hear a shout and sounds resembling a scuffle, making you take immediate notice. Suddenly, you hear a voice that you are absolutely certain is your son, screaming for help. When the alleged kidnappers come on the line and demand money to keep your son safe, you are sure that everything is real because you heard his voice.
Unfortunately, scammers are using AI to mimic the voices of people, potentially turning these fake voices into things like kidnapping scams. This particular scam seems to be rare, but it’s happening.
How frequent are fake kidnapping calls enhanced with AI?
You may recall the incident in late 2023 involving a fake dental plan advertisement that featured Tom Hanks.
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How does an AI fake call work?
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Do I have to worry about falling for a fake AI audio kidnapping scheme?
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Steps you can take to protect yourself from a fake kidnapping scam
1) Ask your loved ones to keep you informed about trips:
2) Set up a safe word or phrase:
3) Use privacy settings on social media:
4) Try to text your loved one:
5) Stay calm and think things through:
Kurt’s key takeaways
Are you concerned about how scammers may take advantage of AI to create new scams? Let us know in the comments below.
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