AI Voice Scams Explained: Here's How To Protect Yourself

Phone call-based scams are nothing new. But it seems like scammers are working overtime to find new ways to cheat and steal from their victims. The latest phone scams involve AI voice cloning to trick people into thinking that they are being contacted by a loved one. Protecting yourself from AI phone scams requires an understanding of what these scammers are doing. AI is getting more sophisticated, and so are the scams. It’s important not to assume that you could never be tricked! The more you know about how these scams work, the better you can protect yourself. AI is used to create text, images, videos, and audio. There are a lot of positive ways to use AI, like improving productivity and assisting people with disabilities . But there are also risks and drawbacks. One of those drawbacks is the ability to copy or clone a real person’s voice and make it sound like that person has said things they never said. This is dangerous because scammers can use this to trick people into thinking their loved one is in trouble and needs money to get out of an emergency situation. In early 2024, The New Yorker published an article about a stressful and traumatic experience a couple went through because of scammers like this. Robin and Steve, a 30-something couple from Brooklyn, received a late-night phone call that appeared to be from Steve’s mother, Mona. They heard what sounded like Mona’s voice wailing. Then they heard Steve’s father Bob’s voice telling them to get Steve on the phone. When Steve answered, a man claimed he was holding Steve’s parents hostage and demanded money. Steve believed the situation was real due to the familiar voices. He complied with the demands while secretly contacting a colleague experienced in hostage negotiations. The scammer asked for $500 via Venmo, then an additional $250, which Steve sent. After the call ended, Steve and Robin contacted Bob directly and discovered that his parents were safe in bed at home, unaware of any incident. The couple realized they had fallen victim to a sophisticated AI-powered voice cloning scam. Unfortunately, this type of scam is becoming increasingly common as voice cloning technology improves. Scammers can now create convincing voice replicas with just a short audio sample, often obtained from social media videos. The New Yorker article goes on to explain examples of other scams, including: As you can see, these scams are complicated and tricky! When a person believes that their loved one is hurt, scared, or in danger, they will often do anything they can to try to help. You want to protect and help your family members and close friends. Scammers do everything they can to take advantage of that instinct. Voice cloning uses AI to record and then copy a person’s voice. Here’s an overview of how it works: Using these steps, today’s scammers can produce remarkably accurate voices with only a little bit of data. Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes of a conversation or social media video to make this work. Now that you understand just how sophisticated these scams can be, how are you supposed to avoid them? To spot these scams, NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection says to watch out for the following: One of the best ways to avoid falling for one of these scams is to establish a family password or passphrase and make sure that everyone knows it. For example, you could all agree that in a real emergency, you will use a phrase that everyone knows means, “Hey, this really is me.” It could be an answer to a question, a specific name, or a phrase. Choose a phrase that is easy for family members to remember, won’t come up in normal conversation, and doesn’t reveal any personal information if it’s overheard. Now that you are informed about the ways that these scams work, know how to recognize them, and have put a plan in place to protect your family from being conned, you should be protected against these scams!