He was instructed to withdraw $4,000 in cash as a ransom payment.
SPEECH TO TEXT VOICE RECORDER SOFTWARE
In one traumatic case, Richard Mendelstein, a software engineer at Google, received a call from what sounded like his daughter Stella screaming for help. Most scams occur over the phone, but they can also take place on social media, over text, or by email. According to the FTC website, there are cases of imposter scammers posing as love interests, IRS officials, caregivers, computer technicians, and family members. Imposter scams come in many forms but typically work the same way: A scammer pretends to be someone you trust to persuade you to send them money. And as AI technology goes mainstream, these scams will only get more sophisticated. While Eddie and his family were able to avoid the scam, many victims of these AI-enabled con artists aren't as lucky. And with social media, it's easy to find a snippet of someone's voice that can then be weaponized. The report from McAfee found that, in some cases, all a scammer needed was three seconds of audio to clone a person's voice. With just a small fee, a few minutes, and an internet connection, bad actors can weaponize AI for their personal gain. In an April survey of adults in seven countries conducted by the global security-software company McAfee, one-quarter of respondents reported experience with some kind of AI voice scam - one in 10 said they had been targeted personally, while 15% said it happened to someone they knew. In March, the FTC said tricksters were starting to use artificial intelligence to supercharge "family-emergency" schemes in which scammers convince people that their family member is in distress so they can get cash or private information. People reported losing $2.6 billion to imposter scams in 2022, an increase from $2.4 billion the year before.īut new technology is making imposter scams even more pernicious. Known as impostor scams, these schemes are the most common type of scam in the US, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Impersonating someone to steal money is nothing new. In truth, his family had been the target of a terrifying new scam: The fraudsters used an artificial rendering of Eddie's voice to try and bilk his loved ones out of cash. His dad's call to Eddie confirmed that it hadn't been Eddie on the phone. He knew it was out of character for Eddie to ask for money - plus, Eddie didn't even have a car in Chicago. When his father found Eddie's grandfather on the phone and heard about the incident, he called Eddie to verify the story. Fortunately for Eddie's family, his father was immediately suspicious of the call. This "Eddie" said he had been in a car accident and needed money immediately. When Eddie's grandfather picked up, it sounded like Eddie on the phone. His dad explained that someone had called his house phone from a foreign number. His father was relieved, but Eddie was confused: Why did he think he had been in a car accident? Eddie was baffled - not only had he not been in a wreck, but he hadn't driven in six months. "That was a really weird way for him to start off the call," Eddie told me.Īfter Eddie said he was safe at home, his father asked whether he had been in a car accident. His dad asked whether Eddie was at home and if everything was all right.
As soon as he heard his dad's voice, Eddie, a 19-year-old TikToker, knew something was up. It often indicates a user profile.Įddie Cumberbatch was sitting in his Chicago apartment in April when he received a frantic call from his father. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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