Imagine receiving a call from an unknown number, only to hear the voice of a loved one — it could be your partner, child, or a close friend.
In a state of panic, they tell you they’ve been in an accident, their wallet and phone are destroyed, and they urgently need money to return home.
Their voice is trembling and filled with distress.
Reacting to their plea, you rush to transfer money online, consumed by worry and fear for their safety.
Suddenly, your phone rings again. This time, it’s clearly indicated as the same person who just called. Confused and concerned, you answer.
“Are you okay?” you ask. The person on the other line sounds calm and puzzled. “Yeah, why?”
They’re unaware of any accident or the money you just sent, claiming it wasn’t them who called earlier.
It’s a bewildering situation. You’ve unfortunately been deceived by an innovative AI voice-cloning scam.
This emerging form of fraud utilises a familiar voice, often of someone you know, to trick you.
Surprisingly, these threat actors require only a brief three-second sample of a person’s voice to effectively replicate it, making the scam all the more convincing and difficult to detect.
You might be wondering how these scammers obtained a voice sample. In our digital era, scammers employ social engineering techniques, which involve collecting data from various public sources. This includes extracting voice clips from videos shared on social media platforms and other websites.
They also resort to traditional methods like making phone calls and recording conversations, or capturing your voice from voicemail messages if you don’t answer their calls.
Additionally, these fraudsters often use social media to target specific individuals. For instance, if one of your loved ones is travelling and updating their activities online, scammers can use this information to make their scam appear more credible, playing on the knowledge that the person is currently away from home.
To safeguard ourselves from this type of scam, it’s important to recognise the urgency tactic commonly used by scammers. They create a sense of emergency to prompt quick action, thereby maximising the effectiveness of their attack.
Consider this: if your loved one is fine and able to communicate on the phone, that’s already a good sign. Attackers tend to keep conversations brief. If it were your child, for instance, you’d naturally want to ask more questions. Knowing they are safe gives you the opportunity to verify the situation by calling their phone directly. If their phone was genuinely damaged or destroyed, you wouldn’t be able to reach them.
Furthermore, if they are travelling with a friend or partner, try contacting these individuals. This doesn’t take much time and can be a quick way to confirm the situation. Additionally, you can reach out to them through other means like Facebook Messenger or similar platforms. These steps can help you ascertain the reality of the situation and protect yourself from falling victim to such scams.
The core challenge with this type of scam is our inability to instantly dismiss it as false, especially when it might involve a real emergency with a loved one. Our instinct to assist them as quickly as possible can overpower our judgement. I confess, if faced with such a situation involving someone close to me, I might initially react in panic, potentially overlooking my own knowledge about such scams.
I’m very interested in hearing from anyone who has encountered this scam. If you’ve experienced it, I encourage you to share your story. How real did it feel to you? Your insights could be incredibly valuable to others.
Also, if you have any questions, have been a victim of an online scam, or even if you have ideas for stories, please feel free to reach out at askatech@mmg.com.au
I’m always eager to hear from readers and learn from your experiences and suggestions