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1A

Preparing For The Age Of AI Scams

1A

NPR

News

4.34.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If a loved one called you in a panic asking for help—maybe they just got arrested or kidnapped and needed money immediately. What would you do?

Here's the thing, the voice on the other end of the line might not be them. It could be AI.

Artificial Intelligence is now making it possible to clone someone's voice – and use it to trick family or friends. Scammers are taking advantage of the technology to con panicked loved ones out of hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. AI is also being used to devise more realistic romance scams and AI generated videos, also known as deepfakes.

Washington has been watching. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced the No AI Fraud Act this month. The bill would protect Americans' likenesses and voices against AI-generated fakes.

We learn more about these scams and what people can do to protect themselves from falling victim.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions.

0:08.5

With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next.

0:14.0

Learn more at concur.com. If a loved one called you in a panic asking for help, maybe they just got arrested or worse

0:29.6

kidnapped and needed money immediately, what would you do? Turns out, it could actually be AI.

0:37.0

My wife and I were asleep in bed when she got a phone call from her mom, at least it said so on her phone, and it sounded like her mom

0:44.8

distressed and said that she was being held hostage with her husband in their house

0:48.7

and that we needed to pay the hostage taker $500 for her to be released. I went into the kitchen while my wife

0:55.3

stay on the phone and called the police. They checked the house, found out there was nobody there,

0:59.2

and the police told her that it was an AI scammer.

1:03.0

Artificial intelligence is now making it possible to clone someone's voice and use it to trick family or friends.

1:09.0

Scammers are taking advantage of the technology to con-panicked loved ones out of hundreds

1:14.1

and sometimes thousands of dollars. In November the Senate Special Committee on Aging

1:19.4

held a hearing on AI scams and how to address them.

1:23.0

Gary Scholdhorn spoke at this hearing.

1:25.0

He's an attorney in Philadelphia, and he was the target of a scam in 2020.

1:29.0

He joined me earlier to talk about his experience, which we'll hear about after the break.

1:34.3

How can we recognize these types of scams and what can people do to protect themselves from

1:39.2

falling victim to them?

1:41.0

I'm Jen White, you're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story. We'll be back with Gary's story in just a moment. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the account that helps you

1:57.2

manage your money all around the world. You want your money to move fast, especially across

2:01.7

borders. That's why WiseISE built the best way to

2:04.4

send, spend, and receive money internationally, min fees, max ease, full speed.

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