Voice cloning is becoming increasingly common and with remarkable accuracy through the use of AI technology. However, as with any technological advancement, there will always be those who seek to use it for malicious motives.
In this case, scammers are now using voice cloning to trick you into believing that you are receiving calls from your loved ones or friends when in reality, you are being targeted by a fraudulent scheme.
With the rise of these scams, it is super important for you to be aware of the risks associated with voice cloning technology and to take steps to protect yourself from these deceptive cons.
How do voice cloning scams work?
Voice cloning is the creation of an artificial simulation of a person’s voice using artificial intelligence technology. Since a scammer only needs a short amount of recorded speech to clone your voice, they can easily steal your voice and use it for whatever means they wish.
One way cybercriminals can do this is by calling you. If you answer a robocall and speak to a scammer, they can take that recording of your voice and use it as a way to mimic you. They can also get your voice through your social media, as many of you take videos of yourselves and post them to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the world to see.
Once they have a voice, they can contact a family member or friend of the person’s voice they stole and pretend to be that person. That way, the person on the other line thinks it’s someone they know and will more readily agree to give money or other personal information over the phone.
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How can I protect myself from a voice cloning scam?
One way to do this is to never answer the phone number of someone you do not know. Spam calls are the perfect way for hackers to get a hold of your voice, and they only need to keep you on the phone for a few minutes.
Be careful what you post online. I know we all love sharing videos of good times with loved ones on our social accounts, however, you should consider making your account or those specific posts private so that only people you’re friends with can see them.
Also, consider removing your personalized voicemail from your cell phone and go with a system greeting or default greeting message so that scammers can’t steal your voice from your voicemail message and use it for a voice-cloning scam.
And finally, if someone is calling you and asking for money, even if it sounds like someone you know, don’t trust it. Especially if your “loved one” is calling from a number you do not recognize. Hang up and call their personal home or cell phone number instead.
By taking these steps to protect yourself, you can minimize the risk of falling victim to a voice cloning scam. Remember, if something seems suspicious or too good to be true, it probably is.
Remove your phone number from the web so scammers never get it
While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a data removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.
A service like Incogni can help you remove all this personal information from the internet. It has a very clean interface and will scan 195 websites for your information and remove it and keep it removed.
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Have you received any voice cloning scam calls recently? Let us know below.
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