These New AI Scams Are Getting Too Good

Artificial intelligence is an exciting a nascent technology, that is already capable of impressive feats. Not all of those feats are good, however. 

Of course, you have the “good:” Large language models like ChatGPT can help you do just about anything text-related, from reworking an email to practicing for a job interview. But bad actors are taking this tech and twisting it to fuel new types of scams, many of which are alarmingly convincing. 

AI voice cloners are getting better than ever

Perhaps no scam illuminates this problem worse than voice scams. Imagine this: You receive a phone call one day from a close family friend. You recognize their voice immediately. They’re panicked: They say they’re in trouble, and there’s a lawyer that’s ready to help. They hand the phone over to the lawyer, who walks you through the situation. Everything is fine, but you need to pay up. 

Don’t pay. Don’t fall for it. This scam, and others like it, rely on cloning real people’s voices using AI. The end results are realistic, and the scammers can make the AI voice say anything they want. It’ll sound like the person you’ve known for years, but it isn’t them at all. 

It doesn’t end with audio calls, either. Deep fake technology allows anyone with know-how to digitally insert a face onto a video of someone else speaking. Combine that tech with AI’s ability to clone voices, and a scammer could send you a very convincing video of a loved one in trouble.

What to do if you think you are being scammed

In all these situations, the best course of action is to hang up and dial your friend or relative directly. Almost certainly, they’ll pick up and be extremely confused when you tell them the story you were just told on the phone.