[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Livia

I've had a couple of emails in the past from scammers pretending to be someone in my contacts saying they're abroad and in trouble, sick or arrested or something, and need money. Obvious scams.

Sorry, I won’t send anymore.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Sorry, I won’t send anymore.

Yeah, knock it off, Ben...

[Benjamin]

My fave is “PayPal” telling me I need to update my bank details. I’ve never had PayPal

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Livia

Yeah, knock it off, Ben...

You’ll be sorry. I could have been your international prince and you could have shared my wealth if you’d helped me transfer it to your account.

[Beso]

Like I would be the first point of contact for anyone I know.

[James]

Originally Posted by Gusto Brunt

NO.

But my brother got a text from someone pretending to be his daughter.

The text said: 'Hey dad, I've lost my purse. But need to go to the supermarket to buy my weekly shop. About £200.00 will do. Just send it to this link:

NOT HIS DAUGHTER AND OBVIOUSLY NOT HER BANK ACCCOUNT.

Beware,.

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yeah I've gotten the Hi Mom and dad, I lost my phone, click this link to message me numerous times, clearly scams though

I've had the 'Hi Mum' message left on my answerphone for my landline. It was a bit unsettling to listen to.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by James

I've had the 'Hi Mum' message left on my answerphone for my landline. It was a bit unsettling to listen to.

An actual voice message? Did they think people wouldn't recognise their own kid?

[James]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

An actual voice message? Did they think people wouldn't recognise their own kid?

It was kind of muffled sounding. I couldn't make out all the words.

[James]

Apparently AI voice scams are becoming a thing.

.....What are AI voice scams?
First emerging overseas last year, many AI voice scams appear to be an evolution of the text message-based "Hi Mum" scam which gained notoriety in Australia in 2022.

This scam saw criminals contact victims by text, pretending to be a family member (often a child) in urgent need of money after losing their phone.

But the power of AI has now enabled scammers to take their impersonations to the next level, as Toby Murray, associate professor in the school of computing and information systems at the University of Melbourne, explains.

"AI voice-cloning technology allows you to mimic someone's voice pretty closely and [it's] getting good enough now that the results are becoming almost indistinguishable," he says.

concerned_senior_on_phone
Scammers can use voice clones of a loved one in trouble to convince victims to hand over money.

Read more: The new PayPal scam to watch out for

"You can create a convincing, false recording of someone's voice that could then fool a family member into thinking that it's their loved one," Murray explains.

These recordings are then deployed against victims through phone calls or voice messages on social media apps.

But it's not just a family member or friend's voice you might hear on the other end of the line – investment scammers are also deploying this method, enlisting the voices of famous individuals to spruik get-rich-quick schemes and convince victims to hand over their savings......

From https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-...ai-voice-scams

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by James

It was kind of muffled sounding. I couldn't make out all the words.

And what did they want you to do?

[James]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

And what did they want you to do?

I couldn't make it out. Just the 'Hi mum' bit, then an emotional sounding person.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by James

Apparently AI voice scams are becoming a thing.



From https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-...ai-voice-scams

Yeah, it wasn’t going to take them long to use AI for scamming.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by James

I couldn't make it out. Just the 'Hi mum' bit, then an emotional sounding person.

Creepy

[Gusto Brunt]

Originally Posted by James

I've had the 'Hi Mum' message left on my answerphone for my landline. It was a bit unsettling to listen to.

I can imagine.