Public warned over scam where fraudsters imitate your friends and family’s voices

19 August 2019, 18:23

By Alice Dear

A new robocall scam is seeing criminals imitate people’s loved ones to trick them into sending cash.

People are being urged to be careful and wary of scammers on their phones who may be imitating their friends and family.

The fraudsters are said to be using deepfake audio technology, which allows them to edit someone’s voice into saying whatever they want.

Symantec, a cyber security firm, fell victim to the scam after three senior financial officers where tricked into sending money to the online crooks.

They did this by using technology to sound like the chief executive of the company, using recordings from their conferences and speeches.

Text-to-Speech specialist CereProc has now warned individuals that they could too be targeted, as well as large companies.

People have been warned the ways these scammers can get hold of yours or your friends and family’s voices is through online videos of you or them talking or even simply calling them and generating conversation.

CereProc's chief scientific officer, Matthew Aylett, told The Sun: “Deepfake audio can be weaponised by criminals and gangs to defraud victims and sabotage business activities through telemarketing.

"It’s a very real threat and there’s no solution at this time."

He went on: “By using deepfake audio to replicate a loved one’s voice, victims could be duped into sharing their bank account details or transferring money to a third party.

"This is especially concerning for the elderly, who aren’t as tech savvy as younger generations."