Scammers used AI to clone her daughter’s voice and fake a kidnapping. A voice expert says every family needs a safe word
Artificial intelligence needs as little as three seconds of you speaking to produce a convincing clone of your voice. In tests by cybersecurity firm McAfee, a three-second clip was enough to generate a clone with an 85% match to the original speaker.
TL;DR
- AI can clone a voice with as little as three seconds of audio, achieving an 85% match.
- Scammers are using AI voice cloning in scams, with an estimated 12% of reported scams involving AI or deepfakes.
- Voice clones are often created using audio from social media and are used to fake emergencies and extort money from relatives.
- A mother was scammed out of $5,400 after receiving a call with a clone of her daughter's voice, which sounded like she was in danger.
- Scams using AI voice cloning are effective because familiar voices can lower defenses and exploit trust.
- Even experienced professionals are falling victim; a finance worker lost $25.6 million after a deepfake video call.
- Many AI voice cloning tools are easily accessible and have minimal consent verification.
- Experts recommend establishing a secret code word with loved ones and always hanging up and calling the person directly to verify emergencies.
- Victims are encouraged to report scams to the FTC and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.