Berlin (dpa) — If you get a call from a familiar voice telling you about some emergency, you should be sceptical at first, particularly if a request for money quickly follows.
This advice applies just as much when the call seems to be coming from a family member or friend. That’s because fraudsters are increasingly using AI to imitate people’s voices to make such calls.
Cybercrime specialists say it's important to try and stay calm despite the stressful situation and don’t make hasty decisions, even if you are being pressured on the phone.
Also, don’t reveal any personal information. End the conversation and then call the supposed caller back at a known number to verify that they actually called you and there really is an emergency.
While in the conversation ask questions about places, things or events that only the person in question can answer, if it is really them.
Feel free to ask “stupid” questions that have nothing to do with the current conversation. This can throw off fraudsters and their AI helpers.
If you've found that scammers have already mimicked the voice of someone you know, you may also want to agree on a secret code-word or question with people close to you, which you can use to distinguish between real and fake calls.
Also, write down the date, time and exact circumstances of dubious calls, and ideally also the phone number if it’s displayed, then inform the police.
Gaps in the conversation or an unnatural-sounding voice can be indications that it’s an AI call. However, you often have to listen very carefully to identify fraudulent calls.
To imitate voices using AI, just a few snatches of someone’s speech are enough, which fraudsters can often easily obtain on the internet, for example from social media. There are now numerous services online that can be used to create these audio deepfakes.
