“People will soon be able to use tools like ChatGPT or even Bing and possibly Google, to create voices that sound a lot like their voice, use their cadence,” Marie Haynes, an expert in artificial intelligence, told CTV. “And will be very, very difficult to distinguish from a real, living person.”
Technology analyst Carmi Levy further warned that today the technology exists to allow scammers to even spoof the phone numbers of family and friends. This will take the scam one step further, allowing criminals to convince their victims that the call is actually coming from the person they are impersonating.
“Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated tools to convince us that when the phone rings, it’s actually coming from that family member or that significant other. That person we know,” he said.
Steps to take to avoid being scammed
To avoid being financially scammed, Levy said people who receive suspicious calls should immediately hang up and continue calling the person they think is calling them directly.
“If you get a call and it sounds a little weird, the first thing you should do is say, ‘Okay, thank you so much for letting me know. I’m going to call my grandson, my granddaughter, whoever it is. it’s that you’re telling me he’s in trouble right away. Then hang up the phone and call them,” he noted.
