If they call you on the phone and no one speaks, don't answer: it's an AI scam and that's what they want from you.
Surely it has happened to you at some point. The phone rings and you see a call from an unknown number. But when you answer the call there seems to be no one on the other end. Complete silence. “Yes, who am I?” you answer. And nothing. No answer. “Hello? Who are you?” Silence. No voice on the other end of the phone line. You end up hanging up.
The first thing that comes to mind is that it is a telemarketing call. Many companies use automated devices that systematically call random phone numbers, and when someone answers, the call is redirected to an agent who is trying to convince you to change your phone contract, your electricity contract, or whatever.
“Oh. The automated machine redirected the call to the customer, but at that moment he must have gone to the bathroom for a moment, and here I am, talking into the void like an idiot. But be careful, because these types of calls are more dangerous than they seem at first glance.
With the advent of artificial intelligence, many scammers are developing new systems to trick their victims and steal a good amount of money from them. To do this, they use voice cloning systems. If no one answers, it is because they just want to record your voice to clone it.
In fact, when they call you on the phone and there is no one on the other end, what they do is record your voice and then clone it using AI . So, when they actually clone your voice, they call one of your friends or family and pretend to be you.
They tell them that you are in the hospital, that you are detained, that you are in the police station, that you are detained at the airport or some other story and that you need a large sum of money to be able to get out of this mess.
The victim clearly recognizes your voice, and even if you act strangely or speak in a way that is not typical of you, he is convinced that this voice can only be yours. So he will follow the scammer's instructions. And by the time they realize this, it is already too late. They will never get that money back.
Naturally, these types of scams require some social engineering and prior preparation. In addition to getting your phone number, the criminal had to get in touch with a family member to whom he could later “sell the motorcycle.” This could be achieved by analyzing the victim’s social networks, hacking their phones in advance, and purchasing personal data packages on the dark web or through other alternative systems.
As you know, if you receive a call from an unknown number and there is no one on the other end, do not answer. There is a fairly high chance that it is a scammer who wants to record your voice to clone it using artificial intelligence and impersonate you for illicit financial gain.
- Top 4 AI Voice Cloning Tools