(Credit: René Ramos; vika_k /Adobe Stock; Mikolette / E+ via Getty Images)
AI-generated deepfake videos are rampant on social media, but there’s another AI-enabled scam Americans need to guard against: deepfake calls.
Scammers have been using AI tools to clone the voices of bank officials, insurance agents, travel agents, politicians, and others to gain access to people's personal details or devices. According to a survey commissioned by caller ID and call-blocking service Hiya, 31% of US respondents received deepfake calls in the last year.
In the US, people received an average of 15 spam calls per month. That's relatively high compared to Canada and Europe. "What makes the US unique is its low fraud rate: just 1%," according to Hiya, thanks in large part to spam-blocking features provided by wireless carriers.
(Credit: Hiya)Most of the US spam calls are Medicare-related. Tax scams came in second, followed by insurance fraud, health-related scams, and then bank and credit card scams. Amazon impersonators are also popular; in these calls, fraudsters pretend to be from Amazon customer service and claim there's an issue with an order or tell you there's been a security breach.
Increasingly, however, people are getting deepfake calls. Of 12,000 customers polled across six countries, 31% received a deepfake and 45% of that group were scammed. Of the scammed group, 34% of that group lost money, and 32% had their personal info stolen. On average, victims lost $539 each to phone scams.
(Credit: Hiya)The focus of these deepfake calls ran the gamut, with 11% focused on banking/financial information. About 8% were about insurance, holiday booking, and delivery services.
Businesses are also falling prey to this scam. Last year, nearly 49% of businesses in the US experienced deepfake fraud and lost an average of almost $450,000, according to a report by the identity security firm Regula.
With scammers constantly changing their ways to loot commoners, it’s vital to shore up defenses against them. One of the basics, as recommended by the FCC, is to never give away account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information to unexpected callers or the ones you suspect. If you’re being pressured for information, hang up immediately.
The FCC also recommends using robocall-blocking technology to filter out these calls. The Hiya AI Phone app, for instance, has real-time scam protection and deepfake detection features. According to Hiya, these features continuously analyze ongoing calls to detect scam language, suspicious patterns, and AI-generated voices and alert users when a potential scam or AI voice is identified.