A woman on a mobile phone, tapping on the screen and trying to avoid getting scammed.
There’s a lot of new technology, and with every innovation there comes a level of risk. Artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) voice cloning tools, make it easier for criminals to mimic voices, and identities.
For families a scammer might target someone posing as their child or grandchild, with an urgent request, claiming they need cash/money, are being kidnapped, or have a medical emergency. Some people are not as familiar with new technologies, such as AI and can be more susceptible to these types of scams. The caller on the other end of the line can be very convincing, and sound identical to a loved one. Phone numbers can also be spoofed to appear as a familiar number known to the target of the AI voice clone scams.
In 2023 alone, people were conned out of approximately $3.4 billion in a range of financial crimes, according to the FBI & FTC. AI increases the believability of these scams and assists criminals with content creation and correcting human errors.
Impersonation & imposter scams are not new, but the technology that makes them easier, more realistic and has people believing their loved one is in real danger are increasing in sophistication and usage.
Anyone can be fooled by these types of convincing scams and criminals’ prey on your fear and emotional responses to a crisis. There is no shame if a scam happened to you, they happen to smart, careful people of every age and income level.
Create a family safe/code word
To help protect your family from scams, AI or otherwise, establish a protocol for verifying a family member or loved one’s identity. By having a designated safe word or code phrase along with a way to verify the information, it helps protect your family from being victimized by scammers.
Choose a word or phrase that cannot be easily guessed by someone who doesn’t know you. Avoid using names of familiar streets, towns, phone numbers, schools, pets or other information that might be easily available online. The safe phrase should be unique to you and your family member or loved one.
A safe phrase or code word has multiple use cases beyond a phone scammer though, you can use the same phrase for school pick-up (if it’s not you picking up your kids that day, you can always change the phrase later). Establishing a safe phrase means you will know what action to take, if or when a real emergency does occur.
Verify Caller Identity
Scammers see you as a number, a way to make a profit, not a person. Having basic safety measures in place can protect you and your family from losing money and becoming victims of fraud.
If someone asks you for financial assistance or money, require that the caller can verify their identity. Ask for the safe word or phrase as an extra security measure, before transferring the money.
Call Them Back
You can also call back your child or family member. If you are unsure of the caller, tell the person you will call them back, take a breath and remember, it’s unlikely your child was kidnapped and desperately in need of immediate payment.
You can also text your family member or your loved one while you’re on the phone with the scammer. If you get a response back, chances are good that you are not talking to your loved one.
Ask Questions
Additionally, ask questions of the scammer/caller, such as for a specific detail about what they had for dinner, or about their vehicle, or something that happened recently only they would know. Scammers often get fed up trying to convince you they are your loved one when you push back a little.
Be Careful What You Post on Socials
Examine how you and your family currently use social media, and what information is out there about you. If you can, minimize your digital footprint on social media and remove your data from data broker sites.
If you’re uploading photos and videos to social media, websites, photo sharing apps etc., be sure to use digital watermarks to help prevent tampering of your images. Of course this isn’t foolproof, but it can help mitigate harm and your photos and videos being used by scammers or to create fake profiles.
Final Thoughts
If you spot a scam or fall victim to one, report it to law enforcement (if it’s safe for you to do so, please consider your threat model) and to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ and your state attorney general.
If financial fraud has occurred, make sure to ensure you put alerts on your accounts and change your passwords on your impacted accounts. You can also put two-factor authentication in place on your devices, where available. Ensuring you have pins, passcodes, and multiple ways to verify your identity with your financial institutions will help in the future, if are a victim of identity theft or there are additional attempts to withdraw or access funds.
If you need additional assistance with data clean-up and staying safe online, consider taking our Data Deletion Class, details are here. For more personalized assistance you can book a consult here.
The guidance included in this article does not constitute legal advice and is for educational purposes only.
Sources: FBI, FTC, CBS News