LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A man was defrauded out of $25,000 after scammers used AI to recreate his son’s voice to defraud him from sending money.
Anthony, who did not want to give his last name, said he felt like a fool for falling for the scam. But he is speaking out and sharing his story so others don’t get fooled.
“I feel like an idiot, but I don’t care,” Anthony said. “I want to help everyone I can.”
It all started when I received a phone call that I thought was from my son.
Anthony believed her son had been in an accident and had hit a pregnant woman who was taken to the hospital.
After a short conversation, he hung up. I received another call from a man named Michael Roberts who claimed to be a lawyer. He then told Anthony that he needed $9,200 for his son’s bail.
“He said, ‘If you want my son out of jail, you need to get $9,200 as soon as possible or he’ll be in jail for 45 days,'” Anthony recalled.
Anthony said she tried to call her son back to find out what happened, but the call went to voicemail. He thought it was because he was really in prison.
Anthony went to the bank to get the money. To avoid suspicion, he told the bank that the money was for the installation of solar panels and that the bank had approved the request.
When Anthony got home, he asked his daughter to call Michael Roberts.
“She says, ‘I’ve got the money. What are we going to do now?'” Anthony explained. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, someone will come to your house. You’ll have an Uber car right away.'” And there are Uber cars. ”
Surveillance video showed his daughter putting money in a manila envelope and then taking it out. They checked the license plate and driver and confirmed it was a legitimate Uber driver. Anthony’s daughter handed over the money and the driver left. Then the phone rings again.
This time, the caller identified himself as Mark Cohen, another lawyer involved in the case. The caller said that the pregnant woman had died.
“Bail has been raised. Mark Cohen says it’s another $15,800 to $25,000,” Anthony said.
They repeat everything again – withdraw more money from the bank and give it to another Uber driver who took the second package.
Anthony said that once the situation had calmed down, he searched the internet to find out. Then his daughter told him the bad news.
“‘Dad, I hope I’m wrong. I think you’ve just been scammed out of $25,000.’ I had no idea that until she said those words.” Anthony looks back.
An old scam with a new twist
Police say this type of scam is not new. Variations of this have been around for years, but the new technology will make calls and notifications appear more realistic.
“Scammers are getting more sophisticated and sophisticated,” said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Chelsea Sager. “They’re using social media and technology to create these stories that are so believable and so convincing that people really believe they’re talking to their grandchildren or government officials.”
In this case, Anthony said that when he first picked up the phone, the voice sounded exactly like his son’s.
“It was his voice. It was totally his voice,” he said. “There was no doubt about that.”
Police say this is a new development. Artificial intelligence (AI) allows you to imitate someone’s voice, making it sound authentic.
“When you get a call and you answer the phone and it’s a scammer, there’s silence,” Sager said. “They want you to say, ‘Hello,’ or ‘Is anyone here?’” All they need to do is input your voice into the AI for three seconds and have it replicated. ”
Thieves can also use social media accounts to obtain information about someone.
“They look at your video posts and if you or a loved one is speaking, they can get your voice that way,” Sager said.
Detectives don’t want to reveal too much information about the ongoing investigation, but say drivers hired through Uber or Lyft are typically not involved in the scam in these cases. They don’t realize they are part of it.
In this case, the callers continued to sound urgent, Anthony said. They tried to keep him off balance.
“They impressed me very quickly,” Anthony said. “‘Wait a minute. I’m going to stop doing this for a second. I want to talk to my son. I don’t care if he’s in jail or not. Or where he is.’ I don’t think so.”
Police say people should never send money to anyone they don’t know, even if they claim to be a government agency or financial institution. You won’t receive a phone call from such a place and ask for money immediately.
“More recently, they have been asking victims to deposit money into cryptocurrency ATM machines or transfer money to cryptocurrency accounts,” Sager said. “So if you get a call and they ask you to do these things, that’s an immediate red flag and it’s probably a scam.”
Anthony said he feels embarrassed but hopes by telling his story he can help others.
“This is my message to everyone watching: protect yourself and your family,” he said. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
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