The Federal Trade Commission is warning people to be cautious about answering phone calls from unknown numbers. Threat actors are now recording your voice and then using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to convert those samples into realistic impersonations of you. They will use this impersonation to call one of your family members and sound like you. In their scam, they can claim to need help because they wrecked a car, are in the hospital, have been arrested, or any kind of circumstance. Then they typically will ask for money to help them with this make-believe situation. And the caller will sound just like you.
It only takes about three seconds for cybercriminals to sample enough of your voice to impersonate you. It could be as easy as you saying, “Hello? Who is this?” They can also pull samples of your voice from videos that you have posted on social media if your account is public.
So, if you decide to answer a call from an unknown number, always let the other person speak first. Or simply don’t answer a call from someone who is not on your phone’s contact list. And don’t trust a voice, just because it sounds like the person you know.
For more information, please see the Federal Trade Commission article.
