AI voice cloning is proving to be a major threat and many people are falling into the trap. The tech has advanced to such a level that it might be hard to differentiate between what’s real and what is fake. These scammers are using this to their advantage, and one such person has reportedly been caught in the AI voice clone scam, where he lost Rs 80,000 to one such call earlier this month. Voice cloning tools are freely available and anybody can use them to manipulate voices and dupe people on calls.
AI Voice Clone Scam: How It Happened
It all started when a businessman from Mumbai got a call, saying they are from the Indian Embassy in Dubai. The caller reportedly claimed his son was arrested and faces the prospect of life imprisonment which is going to scare anybody, let alone a father. The scam really kicked into gear when the person claimed he could hear his son’s voice on the phone, pleading with his father to get him bailed by paying the money.
The complaint registered with the police says the father was forced into paying the ransom money, without even getting a chance to call his son on his phone number. The report here said, the money was paid via GPay, which should have been enough to raise suspicion, but the whole situation was tense, and it seems the father was just wanting to help his son.
The father, Vinod, then asked his office staff to send the money, and the moment the transaction was completed, the fraudster cut the call. That’s when Vinod realised the scam, when he called up his son, who is staying in Dubai and found him safe. The police claim the cyber team is tracking the bank details to see if they can catch hold of the fraudsters.
These threat calls are the perfect modus operandi for such AI voice clone scams, and people are clearly falling for them. One cannot really blame these people, and that’s because the AI tech has become so good that laymen find it hard to read the signs of the scam. Having said that, calls like these are meant to create the fear factor and the fraudsters play with that psyche to coerce them into sharing details or sending money.
So, the next time you get a call saying someone from your family has been arrested or faces big charges, make sure to be calm, see if you can cross-check on those claims using another number and also verify the caller before sharing any details.
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