AI is now being used to disguise voices

A grandmother in Canada received a call that sounded like her grandson was in prison and needed bail. I sent $3,000 CDN ($3,300) to my teacher. Their bank said another customer was tricked in the same way. Washington Post report.

Merrilees said using AI to impersonate a victim’s loved ones was “genuinely terrifying.”

“That is why banks need to step up how they are responding,” she said.

After Merrilees replied to a message that her phone was broken, her daughter was set up with a new phone, and of course she couldn’t talk while she was at work.

Merrilees was then asked to make several payments as they were urgent and could not be made without confirmation of bank transfer on the new phone. Merrilees paid $3,450 for his first, $3,800 for his second, and $4,350 for his third, for a total of $11,600.

“She had a golden retriever puppy, but she’s going to pick her up next week, so she obviously had to pay for the dog,” Merries said.

After making the third payment, Merrilees asked what it was for. When the reply was “new furniture,” Merries felt uneasy.

“I emailed her. She called back the original number. I felt sick,” Merrilees said. The bank, she said, had no guarantee she would get the money back because she sent the money herself.

Labor made a campaign promise to combat fraud with a tougher industry code and the creation of a National Anti-Fraud Center.

The Center for Consumer Conduct Law wants banks to be forced to refund fraud victims. “Banks have the resources and need to invest significantly more in technology to prevent and deter fraudsters,” Tonkin said.

Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones said he did not fully support forcing banks to refund all fraud victims. “Scammer’s Honeypot”.

“Industries, including banks, must maintain very high standards when it comes to consumer fraud prevention and be held accountable when these standards are not met,” his spokesperson said. I was.

A spokeswoman for the Australian Bankers Association said it is taking an industry-wide position on customer losses due to fraud. She said voice spoofing is another example of how the types and methods of fraud are “rapidly evolving.”

“Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, fraud is becoming more complex, and all sectors – banks, telecoms, online shopping platforms, search engines – must play their part in addressing this problem. ‘ she said. “Banks will consider the circumstances of each case and cover losses depending on how the fraud was committed.”

A spokeswoman for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it estimated Australians lost $4 billion to fraud last year. scum watch The service has witnessed increasing sophistication in fraud and is “beware of the risks AI poses.”

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