An Arizona mother received an unexpected phone call from her daughter, only it wasn’t actually her daughter calling.
Jennifer DeStefano’s 15-year-old daughter called her while out of town on a ski trip, so DeStefano didn’t assume anything was out of the ordinary.
Responding to her daughter’s voice asking, “What happened?” Her daughter replied: “‘Mom, I messed up,’ and she’s sobbing and crying,” DeStefano told the outlet.
DeStefano then begins to panic as she hears a man’s voice in the background.
“I hear a man’s voice say, ‘Put your head back. Lie down,’ DeStefano said, confused as to what was actually happening to her daughter.
“This man gets on the phone, and he’s like, ‘Listen here. I’ve got your daughter. This is how it’s going to go down. You call the police, you call anybody, I’m going to pop her so full of drugs. I’m going to have my way with her, and I’m going to drop her off in Mexico,” DeStefano explains.
The frightened mother begins shaking as she can hear her daughter yelling, “Help me, Mom. Please help me. Help me,” DeStefano said.
Despite the frightening call, DeStefano’s daughter’s voice was a clone created by artificial intelligence.How are AI Voice Clones Created
Subbarao Kambhampati, a computer science professor at Arizona State University specializing in AI, explained how realistic and confusing it can be to detect a deep fake voice.With the constantly advancing technology, voice cloning makes it easier for individuals to create another personality and voiceover.
Protecting Yourself From Scam Attacks
According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers will often ask victims to wire money, send cryptocurrency, or pay the ransom with gift cards. This way the scammer can easily get away with the money without being traced.Dan Mayo, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix office, alerted the public about scammers scouting for victims through public social media profiles.
Mayo provides some insights on how you can recognize if you’re being targeted for a scam and what to look out for.
With AI voice cloning on the rise, Mayo says the FBI is keeping track of scammers’ every move.
“However, there are some people who give in to these and they end up sending the money to these individuals,” Mayo said. “Trust me, the FBI is looking into these people, and we find them.”
The AI voice clone of DeStefano’s daughter never raised a doubt that the voice she was talking with wasn’t truly her daughter.Safe and Sound
DeStefano was able to quickly confirm her daughter was safe from family members.“She was upstairs in her room going, ‘What? What’s going on?’” DeStefano said. “Then I get angry, obviously, with these guys. This is not something you play around with.”
“The only way to stop this is with public awareness!!,” she said. “Also, have a family emergency word or question that only you know so you can validate you are not being scammed with AI! Stay safe!!!”