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CAZENOVIA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) – From smog to scams, this trend can leave you in a fog. People are using artificial intelligence to trick you into thinking your loved one is in danger.
NewsChannel 9 is hearing from a Cazenovia woman, along with other warnings.
Experts say that to pull this off, fraudsters need only a small amount of material, even a short voice clip on social media, and using artificial intelligence (AI), your voice can be used in a phone call.
The day before her daughter’s wedding, Amy Conley received a distressed call, thinking her daughter was Mary Kate.
“She said, ‘Mom, mom,’ and my heart immediately went into my throat and she said, ‘I’ve been in a car accident.'” Conley explained. “She said I broke my nose and kept crying.”
Then another voice came over the call.
“Your daughter was in a motor vehicle accident, she had a broken nose and I’m going to give you a case number because she’s on another phone call in a few minutes,” said the second voice.
Conley was told her daughter was arrested for texting, hitting another car and injuring a pregnant woman. She has to spend $15,000 to get her daughter out of jail.
“She got back on the phone, who I thought was Mary Kate, and she was just crying and saying ‘Mom’ over and over again, and I thought it was going to be okay,” Conley said.
It was a fake voice, probably generated by artificial intelligence. All it takes is a quick sample of your voice, and it’s not difficult for scammers.
Capt. James Nightingale of the Camillus Police Department explains, “Most of the phone calls you get when you say hello, you’re surprised when someone says something and you’re trying to record and use that opportunity.
Nightingale suggests, if you don’t know the number, go to voicemail.
“If it’s important, they’ll leave you a message, or if it’s really important, maybe they’ll leave you a text,” he said.
Conley didn’t fall for it and quickly confirmed that she was perfectly fine with her son.
“I’m still concerned that something like this could happen because it was really her voice,” Conley said.
Conley has some advice for those who find themselves in this situation.
“It’s very simple, I say have a code word,” Conley said. “My other daughter, Mary Kate, and I came up with this very simple code word that nobody knows but us.”
Captain Nightingale likes this idea.
“It’s great to have a code because when you call, hey cool, your granddaughter is hurt, what’s the word?” said Nightingale.
The Federal Trade Commission says counterfeiting scams were among the biggest frauds reported last year, accounting for more than two and a half billion dollars in losses.
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