Mobile phone users have been urged to look out for scammers using AI bots to impersonate loved ones in a bid to coerce unsuspecting victims into handing out large sums of money.
Reports suggest imposter scams are ramping up in regularity, and many across the UK are experiencing first hand one of the negatives to advanced AI tech.
Deputy Editor of The Spectator Freddy Gray told GB News about a colleague who received a call from a bot claiming to be a loved one, and how he circumvented the alarmingly realistic attempt to fool them.
Gray told GB News there is a simple way of figuring out whether you are speaking to a bot or a real human.
Freddy Gray has offered advice on how to avoid being scammed by AI
PA / GB News
Speaking on Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel, he said: “Have any of you had the scam yet? I haven’t but someone in my office has.
“You get a phonemail and it’s a voice you recognise on the line saying ‘I have a problem’.
“The thing to do is, ask as many questions as you can if you have any doubt, because the bot will then get confused.”
In response, former Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker said the scam sounds like a “frightening” prospect.
It comes after a recent Washington Post report which claimed imposter scams were the second most popular in America, accounting for over 36,000 reports of people being swindled by others claiming to be friends and family.
Over 5,100 of said incidents occurred over the phone, which accounted for over $11 million in losses, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Cheap online tools allow scammers to recreate voices using an audio sample of just a few sentences, where they can then make the voice “speak” whatever they type.
The use of AI is facing further scrutiny due to a German magazine running a generated ‘interview’ with seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, prompting legal action from his family.
Schumacher suffered brain damage in a skiing accident in December 2013, and his family have kept updates on his recovery to a minimum.
German publication Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of the racing legend with the headline “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”.
A family spokesman told Reuters legal action would be taken.
In the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, the 54-year-old's wife Corinna said: "Michael is here. Different, but he's here, and that gives us strength, I find. He still shows me how strong he is every day.
"We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.
"And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will. We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.
"'Private is private', as he always said. It's very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael."
