Scammers using AI to copy voices of Family & Friends to Trick you

When DeStefano got that disturbing call on Jan. 20, her 15-year-old daughter Briana had been away on a ski trip.

“This man gets on and he says, ‘Listen here. I have your daughter. If you call anybody, you call the police, I’m gonna pump your daughter so full of drugs, I’m gonna have my way with her, I’m gonna drop her in Mexico, and you’re never gonna see your daughter again,’” DeStefano said.

Then, DeStefano says, the scammer asked for $1 million.

“That’s when I went into panic mode. And I just opened up the door, put the phone on mute, and started screaming for help,” DeStefano said.

A person nearby heard the noise and called 911. The emergency operator said it seemed like DeStefano was caught in a common scam and asked if she had talked directly to her daughter.

Eventually, DeStefano reached her husband, who was also on the ski trip, and he confirmed that Briana was safe.

However, there were still unanswered questions. Who or what was really speaking on the phone, and how did they manage to imitate Briana’s voice so convincingly that even her own mother was fooled?

Experts caution that even a short snippet of social media content can provide scammers with what they need to replicate someone’s voice using artificial intelligence.

There has been a rise in reports of this complex scam in recent months. In May, a man from Texas shared with “Good Morning America” that his father was tricked into giving $1,000 to a scammer. The scammer posed as his grandson, Christian, and claimed he was in trouble in Mexico, needing money to get out of the situation.

Pete Nicoletti from Check Point Technologies suggests that all family members should establish a “safe word.” This word can be used when communicating with a loved one who appears to be in a kidnapping situation.