AI ‘voice cloning’ scams are on the rise. Here’s how to protect yourself – The Mercury News
AI ‘voice cloning’ scams are on the rise. Here’s how to protect yourself – The Mercury News
Publish Date: 2026-05-29 10:16:00
Source Domain: www.mercurynews.com
Here are the key points from the article by Clare Duffy for CNN, regarding AI voice cloning scams:
– An East Bay mother was recently scammed out of thousands of dollars after receiving a call purported to be from her distressed daughter, potentially an AI-generated hoax.
– The FBI reported that Americans lost over $893 million to AI-related scams last year, including attacks using voice cloning.
– Scammers can create realistic replicas of anyone’s voice using AI tools, utilizing just a few seconds of real speech often found on social media.
– These fraudsters mimic people in distress, typically faking kidnappings or jail situations, to demand money for release.
– Advanced techniques like “voice skinning” and caller ID spoofing make these scams even more convincing and harder to detect.
– To avoid falling victim, it’s recommended to look for overall scam warning signs: unusual urgency, secrecy, and large money requests, instead of trying to determine voice authenticity.
– It’s advisable for targets to contact their loved one through other means and consider establishing precautionary “code words” to verify identities.
– Experts suggest that it’s better to doubt the legitimacy of a call than to potentially be caught in a scam.
