A recent case of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) scam has come to light from the United States, where a man from Florida reported on social media that scammers used his voice to loot over ₹25 lakh from his parents.
A user on X named Jay Shooster recounted a shocking incident where scammers called his father and user his voice to inform that he had been in a serious car accident, was injured, and needed $30,000 for bail after being arrested for a DUI. He mentioned that the scam occurred just days after his voice went up on television, adding that just a mere 15 seconds was sufficient to create a convincing AI clone.
He wrote, “Today, my dad got a phone call no parent ever wants to get. He heard me tell him I was in a serious car accident, injured, and under arrest for a DUI and I needed $30,000 to be bailed out of jail. But it wasn't me. There was no accident. It was an AI scam.”
“I'm not sure it was a coincidence that this happened just days after my voice went up on television. Fifteen seconds of me talking. More than enough to make a decent AI clone.”
He added, “As a consumer protection lawyer, I've literally given presentations about this exact sort of scam, posted online about it, and I've talked to my family about it, but they still almost fell for it. That's how effective these scams are. Please spread the word to your friends and family.”
“All of this is just a further reminder that we need leaders who will prioritize regulating the AI industry. The world is going to be radically transformed by this technology and we need to act now to ensure that it makes the world better and not worse,” he said.
He also explained on how his parents realised it was a scam. He said, “The main thing that tipped them off was that they wouldn't accept payment via card. Then other things started to seem fishy (e.g., I claimed that the random public defender assigned to me was a great lawyer).”
He then continued, “This is not a knock on public defenders (who *are* often great lawyers), but it would be odd for me (a lawyer) to tell my dad (also a lawyer) that a random attorney whose work I wouldn't be familiar with and couldn't have evaluated was a great lawyer.”
In response to the viral post, users began sharing their thoughts and experiences. One user said, “No AI regulation would solve this. Criminals don’t follow laws.”
Another said, “Thanks for raising the discussion in civil society. How exactly would one regulate “the industry?” The bad actors here are fraudsters using open source, not the proprietary actors in “the AI industry.””
Some other user claimed, “Delusional. I can clone a voice on my laptop already. God save us from all you wonderful regulators”
Another added, “Regulating is not the solution. As many have said in the comments, the technology is already out there, and criminals do not care about regulation. Regulation would only harm the rest of us, and slow down progress.”
One user shared his own experience and said, “This exact scam was attempted using my voice on my grandmother in 2010. At the time it must've been someone that sounded enough like me to fool her, luckily she didn't fall for it. AI now gives scammers the ability to imitate loved ones at a scale that is frightening.”
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