A NEW type of scam is on the rise – and it uses AI tools to imitate the voices of people you trust.
“Vishing”, a combination of “voice” and “phishing”, is a voice-based cyber attack. Unlike traditional phishing, where criminals send emails purporting to be from trusted sources, it is carried out over the phone.
Criminals call victims and try to persuade them to reveal confidential details such as credit card numbers and bank account information.
Scammers may pose as bank employees or customer service representatives and insist that your information is needed to resolve a problem.
And a new threat makes these plots increasingly convincing: the use of AI to “clone” voices.
Advanced voice manipulation tools can create realistic synthetic voices or even imitate the voices of people you know.
All a scammer needs is a video of you family member or friend, who may be readily available on social media.
The rest is simple – the audio is fed into software that generates entire sentences using your voice.
The Federal Trade Commission the alarm sounded about voice cloning attacks early last year.
“All (a scammer) needs is a short audio clip of your family the member’s voice – which he could obtain from content posted online – and a voice cloning program,” the agency wrote.
“When the scammer calls you, he will sound exactly like your loved one.”
To make the scheme even more convincing, fraudsters can spoof the origin of a call through a technique known as caller ID spoofing.
By utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which connects calls over the Internet, scammers can assign incoming phone numbers to impersonate trusted individuals or organizations.
Call spoofing was believed to be a scam that swept the Las Vegas area earlier this month.
One anonymous the victim received a call that showed the name of his bank on the caller ID. She was instructed to check her account, where she detected two fraudulent transactions.
The scammers took it a step further, sending a “courier” to her door to cut her credit card in half while she was still on the phone. It was a costly mistake – the woman lost $9,000.
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To protect yourself from falling victim, you should start by knowing the warning signs of a vishing scam.
Scammers often ask victims to act urgently to resolve a shipping error or correct fraudulent charges. A forceful approach should raise red flags.
Always be careful as a caller ID may not be enough to verify the identity of the caller. Security experts recommend hanging up and calling the organization directly.
As a general rule, never give out personal information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card details or passwords, to unsolicited callers.
How are scammers finding my number?
Here, Mackenzie Tatananni, science and technology reporter for The US Sun, explains how a scammer can get your information.
Scammers often obtain phone numbers through data breaches, which occur when a hacker accesses a private database – usually those maintained by companies such as contractors and employers.
This information can be shared and disseminated online, including on the dark web, where there are forums dedicated to sharing leaked information.
Another common technique called wardialing employs an automated system that targets specific area codes.
A recorded message will instruct the listener to enter sensitive information such as card number and PIN.
There’s also a much more distressing possibility: your phone number could be listed online without your knowledge.
Data brokers are eager to buy and sell your information. These companies collect information from a variety of public online sources, including social media and public records.
Its main purpose is to build databases of people and use this information for personalized advertising and marketing.
Much of this information ends up on public records websites, which display information like phone number, email, home address and date of birth for anyone to see.
In the United States, these sites are legally required to remove your information if you request them.
Locate your profile and follow the cancellation instructions, but be warned: these sites don’t make things easy and are out to frustrate you and prevent you from completing the deregistration process.
To put it simply, you can also use a tool to clean your information from the Internet.
Norton offers one of these services. Called Privacy Monitor Assistant, the tool finds information online and requests removal on your behalf.
It’s also possible that your phone number is linked to a social media account and is publicly displayed on your profile – this happens quite often on Facebook.
Be sure to review your privacy settings and confirm that this information is hidden from prying eyes.
Notify your bank of attempted fraud. Mention the information requested by the caller and the telephone number or area code.
Report suspicious calls to agencies such as Federal Trade Commission to keep yourself and others safe.
It’s also worth listing your cell and home phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registrya database maintained by the United States federal government.
While there is no guaranteed way to prevent scammers from contacting you, registration is an effective defense against telemarketers.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
