Scammers are using AI technology to assist in voice phishing (vishing) campaigns, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns.
Generative AI tools can now be used to create convincing imitations of people’s voices based on very small audio samples.
“At work, you get a voicemail from your boss,” the BBB says. “They instruct you to wire thousands of dollars to a vendor for a rush project. The request is out of the blue. But it’s the boss’s orders, so you make the transfer.
"A few hours later, you see your boss and confirm that you sent the payment. But there’s one big problem; your manager has no idea what you are talking about!
"It turns out that the message was fake. At home, you may receive a phone call or voicemail from a family member in an urgent situation like an accident or a medical emergency. They provide convincing details and ask for money immediately via a digital wallet payment app like Venmo or PayPal. You find out later that the story wasn’t true, and your money is gone.”
The BBB offers the following recommendations to help users avoid falling for these types of scams:
- “Resist the urge to act immediately. No matter how convincing a phone call or voicemail may sound, hang up or close the message if something doesn’t feel right. Call the person who claimed to have called you directly with the phone number you have saved for them. Don’t call back the number provided by the caller or caller ID. Ask questions that would be hard for an impostor to answer correctly.
- “Don’t send money if you’re in doubt. If the caller urgently asks you to send money via a digital wallet payment app or a gift card, that may be a red flag for a scam. If you wire money to someone and later realize it’s a fraud, the police must be alerted.
- “Secure your accounts: Whether at work or home, set up multi-factor authentication for email logins and other changes in email settings. At work, verify changes in information about customers, employees, or vendors.
- “At work, train your staff: Create a secure culture at your office by training employees in internet security. Make it a policy to confirm all change and payment requests before transferring. Don’t rely on email or voicemail.”
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The BBB has the story.
