Artificial intelligence-generated voice cloning tools have become a sinister tool in the hands of scammers, enabling them to manipulate and scam unsuspecting individuals. These sophisticated tools mimic human voices with remarkable accuracy, allowing scammers to impersonate trusted figures, such as government officials. Through phone calls, scammers exploit the trust people place in familiar voices to extract sensitive information or coerce victims into fraudulent transactions. Here is an example.
A woman named Kaveri took to X to share a harrowing incident. One day, she got a call from an unknown number and on the other end of the phone, the person claimed that he was a police officer.
⚠️Scam Alert⚠️
I got a call about an hour ago from an unknown number. I unusually do not respond to unknown numbers but I don't know what made me answer this call.
On the other end was a guy who said he is a cop and asked me if I knew where my daughter K is. He said K gave…— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 11, 2024
He claimed to have arrested Kaveri’s daughter alleging that she, along with a couple of other friends, were caught filming an MLA’s son in a compromising position and intended to blackmail him with the recording.
…him my number. “aap ki beti ko arrest kar liya gaya hai”.
I felt actually relieved at that point because initially I felt she could have been in an accident or hurt.
“aap ki beti aur 3 aur ladkiyon ne MLA ke bete ko compromising position mein record kar ke blackmail..— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 11, 2024
However, Kaveri immediately realised that it was a scam and she demanded to speak to her daughter. Shockingly, the person on the other end obliged and she could hear her daughter’s voice saying, “Mom please save me.”
…karne ki koshish kari”.
I immediately realized it’s a scam. I turned on call recording and asked to speak to my daughter.
“le kar ayo K ko” The man sounded rough and rude throughout the call. To my horror, a recording was played to me….— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 11, 2024
But even though the voice sounded exactly like her daughter, it wasn’t the way she usually spoke. Clearly, it was a scam. The person on the other end said that she needed to compensate if she wanted her daughter back.
.. “mumma mujhe bacha lo, mumma mujhe bacha lo..”
The voice sounded exactly like my daughters but that’s not the way she would have spoken.
The “cop” came back online and said the “victim” is ready to compromise if he is compensated so either that or come to the police station..— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 11, 2024
When Kaveri asked the person to let her speak to her daughter properly, he got angry and said that they were taking her away. To this, Kaveri laughed and played along, causing the other person to cut the phone call.
I asked him to let me speak do my daughter properly. He got all angry and rude.
We are taking her away then, he said.
Ok, take her away then, I told him.
And I laughed.
He cut the call.And that’s how they tried to scam me today. The end.
— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 11, 2024
Turns out, such incidents have become very common nowadays. There were several people online who had similar experiences who took to the comments section to share their stories. Have a look:
I got a call recording from FedEx stating there was some suspicious items and to speak to the concerned department I should press 1 . I hung up .
— Sunitha Nahar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@sunithanahar) March 11, 2024
Omg this happened to a friend back in Assam. Got a call late night from a “cop” who asked if he has P’s dad, P who studies here and lives at this address in PG (across the country). And then told him she’s been arrested for possession of drugs.
— . (@TandooriCutlet) March 11, 2024
Happened to us also a few weeks back. My dad got a call that I’ve been arrested because I got caught with some girl or something then they repeated the same story. Gladly, my dad also knew it was a scam and he didn’t react to it.
— Ujjwal Pandey (@ujjwalpandey07) March 11, 2024
Damn. Something very similar happened to me yesterday. Someone who identified himself as “Manoj Uncle” told me that my “Papa” borrowed money from him and said that I would pay back. He had my name and everything, but the voice was too sleazy, so I cut the call and blocked
— Natasha Ramarathnam (@nuts2406) March 11, 2024
One of my relatives was scammed of 1L RS this way. In his case it was son’s voice who was caught in a drug related matter in Bangalore (where he is studying).
— Sudhanshu Verma (@sonuvuce) March 11, 2024
Same thing happened with my mom. Luckily, I picked the call. He asked about my brother, he asked his name first which made me suspicious. I asked him to connect with my brother, to my surprise a man who cried vehemently was given the phone.
— Papertrails (@dollysingh93) March 11, 2024
That’s quite scary. Slowly they may start using situations which would seem real. I got a call from someone asking me if I have Gpay or Paytm as my husband gave him my number. My husband was right with me. Then I told the chap I was unmarried…he panicked and put down the phone
— मैंAnitaIA&AS (@anitashahakella) March 11, 2024
My father-in-law got a similar call from a cop a few days back, telling him my husband, who himself is a DCP, with his friends, had kidnapped a girl. When he took it casually, the ‘cop’ threatened, saying that they would go to the media and you be ready for the consequences.
— Gitanjali Sharma (@giliasharma) March 11, 2024
The same thing happened in my school today when a parent called us to check whether his son was in school or not as he had received a call that his son was arrested. Thankfully his exams were going on and he had the presence of mind to call us first. Scary though.
— Nimesh Anand (@nimeshanand) March 11, 2024
Not just incidents like this. From pictures to videos to voice recordings, everything can be fabricated nowadays because of sophisticated AI tools. And the accuracy of the results is jarring. Whenever something like this happens, cut the phone call and call your loved one in question, asking them about their whereabouts. A police officer will always ask you to come to the police station to address the matter.
Stay safe!