Ontario senior Marilyn Crawford was certain she was speaking to her grandson Ian when she received a late-night call. The voice on the other end claimed he had been arrested and needed $9,000 for bail. But it wasn’t Ian—it was a scam so convincing that Marilyn and her son, Kevin, suspect fraudsters used AI to clone his voice.
The “emergency” or “grandparent” scam, in which criminals pose as a distressed family member in need of money, has evolved with artificial intelligence. Experts warn that AI-generated deepfake voices are making these scams more realistic than ever. In 2024, Canadians lost nearly $3 million to such fraud, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Cybersecurity specialists say scammers harvest personal videos and voice samples from social media, using AI to mimic a person’s voice with just seconds of audio. The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network flagged the rising threat of deepfakes in scams, cautioning that fraudsters can convincingly impersonate trusted individuals.
Retired CIA officer Peter Warmka calls AI a “playground” for scammers, warning that victims are easily deceived into transferring thousands of dollars. Experts suggest families use code words to verify identities over the phone, as AI-powered scams become more advanced.
Source: Swifteradio.com
