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  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 13, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    County official targeted in AI scam 

    By Greg Collier

    We’ve come across yet another story where an AI-generated voice has been used in a scam. This time it took place in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. There, a county official received a phone call she thought was coming from her daughter. The voice on the other end sounded exactly like her daughter, and was sobbing and crying. Then a man got on the call and claimed to be a police officer. That man said that the daughter caused a car accident after looking at her phone while driving. It wasn’t long before the man asked for $15,000 bail. Thankfully, while this was going on, the woman got a text message from her actual daughter, which spoiled the scam.

    Regular readers will recognize this as the grandparent scam. It was initially called that because scammers would target the elderly and pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren. Now, ‘grandparent scam’ is a misnomer because more recently, scammers have been targeting parents as well. This is thanks to the advancement of AI technology lately. Scammers now have the capability of spoofing the voice of just about anyone they want and making it say whatever they want. This makes a scam that was concerning at first, absolutely terrifying now. Before voice-spoofing, a scammer would have to try to imitate a loved one while claiming they had some kind of injury which made their voice sound different, such as a broken nose. Now, scammers don’t even have to bother. All they need now is a few seconds of someone’s voice they can take from a video on social media.

    But as always, If you receive a distressing call from a supposed loved one who claims they’re in some kind of trouble, it is critical to verify their situation by contacting them directly. Scammers will try to keep you on the phone by threatening arrest if you hang up or claiming there is some kind of gag order. Nothing is keeping you from hanging up on the phone call to verify the story with your family or friends. Even if you’re convinced you’re hearing your loved one’s voice, always verify the story before making any kind of payment is even considered.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 28, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    AI voice-spoofing scam started earlier than we thought 

    By Greg Collier

    One of the many problems with scams is, by the time the public hears about them, they’re already in full swing and have claimed numerous victims. For example, we’ve only been discussing the AI voice-spoofing scam for roughly two months. While we assumed the scam had been going on longer than that, we were unaware of just how far back it started. According to one recent report, at least one scam ring has been implementing the voice-spoofing scam since October of last year. The reason we know the scam is at least that old is because a suspect has been arrested for such a scam.

    In a voice-spoofing scam, scammers extract someone’s voice sample from online sources and manipulate it using AI technology to make it utter desired phrases. This deceptive practice is commonly observed in phone scams, particularly those aimed at convincing victims that they are communicating with a trusted family member or loved one. The voice-spoofing seems to be only used in grandparent scams and virtual kidnapping scams, so far. It’s only a matter of time before scammers come up with new ways of using voice-spoofing to scam victims.

    Also, when we discuss voice-spoofing scams here in 2023, we’re referring to the new wave of voice-spoofing scams. In previous years, there have been voice-spoofing scams, however, they were almost primitive compared to today’s technology. Those older scams also needed several minutes of someone’s recorded voice before they could make a viable speech model. Today, scammers only need a few seconds of speech.

    Getting back to the matter at hand, a New Jersey man was recently arrested for allegedly scamming a Houston, Texas, woman out of $40,000. She thought the voice she was talking to was her son, who claimed to have been arrested. Then the alleged scammer would get on the phone posing as a public defender while asking the woman for bail money. The man was caught after investigators followed the money trail, since one of the payments was sent through money transfer. However, the victim in this case was scammed in October 2022.

    Since scammers hardly ever work alone, more arrests may be following, and you can almost bet there are more victims out there.

    If you receive a distressing call from a supposed loved one requesting urgent financial assistance, it is crucial to verify their situation by promptly contacting them through alternative means. Do not entertain any assertions that prevent you from ending the call or consulting other family members. Stay vigilant and prioritize verifying the authenticity of such requests.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Mother convinced daughter arrested in AI scam 

    Mother convinced daughter arrested in AI scam

    By Greg Collier

    If anyone could recognize their daughter’s voice with just a few short words, it would be their mother. At least, that’s what scammers are hoping as AI-generated voice spoofing scams continue to plague families.

    Within the past few months, we have seen an increased uptick of phone scams that use AI-generated voices. As we’ve previously discussed, there are two scams where an AI-generated voice of the victim’s loved one makes the scams seem more believable.

    One of those scams is the virtual kidnapping scam. That’s when scammers will call their victim to tell them that they’ve kidnapped one of the victim’s loved ones, while demanding a ransom. In actuality, the supposed kidnap victim is unaware they’re being used in a scam.

    The other scam is the grandparent scam. It’s called the grandparent scam because in it, the majority of scammers target elderly victims and claim to be one of their grandchildren. Calling it the grandparent scam can be a misnomer, as scammers will also target parents and spouses.

    One mother from Upstate New York was shopping for her daughter’s wedding when she received a call from scammers. She immediately heard her daughter’s voice saying she got into a car accident. But it wasn’t her daughter’s voice. Scammers had spoofed it using AI.

    Scammers only need a few seconds of someone’s voice before they can make an authentic sounding AI model, along with the speaker’s cadence. They get their voice samples either from someone’s social media or making phone calls to their target. Since the daughter was preparing for her wedding, there may have been a wide variety of voice samples to choose from.

    But getting back to the scam, after the mother heard her daughter’s voice, a scammer got on the line posing as local police. They said the daughter caused a wreck while texting and driving, and needed $15,000 for bail.

    Thankfully, even though the woman was convinced that was her daughter’s voice, she did not fall victim to the scam. Instead, she called her daughter, who was in no danger at all.

    If you receive a phone call like this, try to contact the person who was supposedly arrested. Even if you held a conversation on that call and the person sounded exactly like your loved one. Scammers will try to keep you on the phone, but no one ever had their bail raised while someone verified their story.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 16, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Scam Round Up: A new stolen car scam and more 

    Scam Round Up: A new stolen car scam and more

    By Greg Collier

    This week, in the Round Up, we’ll be reviewing two scams we’ve discussed before and a new one that took even us by surprise.

    Today’s first scam is one that we thought we’d see more of, but that could just mean that victims aren’t coming forward. Anyway, the voice spoofing scam has found its way to another family, this time in Tacoma, Washington. The scammers spoofed the voice of the family’s 16-year-old daughter and said that she had been in a car wreck and needed $10,000. Scammers only need a few seconds of someone’s voice to be able to generate that person’s voice using AI technology.

    This voice spoofing technology has been used in the grandparent scam, as shown above, and the virtual kidnapping scam. Even if your ears are trying to convince you that you’re talking to a loved one, always verify their story. Try to use another device to contact that person. Or have a code phrase set up beforehand with your family in case of an actual emergency.

    The second scam for today seems like it’s popping up more often lately, if the news is any indication. More homeowners have been receiving concerning letters in the mail that many think are coming from their mortgage company. In reality, the letters are from someone trying to sell a home warranty policy. However, the Better Business Bureau notes that the fine print should tell you all you need to know about the letter. In some instances, the letter says something similar to, “Not all consumers have previous coverage. We are not affiliated with your current mortgage.”

    If you have any questions or concerns about your mortgage or current home warranty, call those companies directly. Do not use any contact information contained in the letter.

    Lastly, it seems we’ve seen a number of car scams emerge, and this may be one of the most heinous. Selling a stolen car online is nothing new. It’s the buyers who pay the price once they find out that the car is stolen when they’re notified by either the DMV or the police. More recently, car scammers are taking the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of a car of a similar make and model, and using it on the stolen car.

    This way, when a buyer may run a vehicle history report, it will come back with the history of a car that hasn’t been stolen.

    However, this isn’t a perfect scam for the scammers. A buyer would need to look out for any discrepancies between the vehicle history and what the seller is telling you. If there are any discrepancies, or there’s an issue with any paperwork, the buyer should walk away.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 3, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Scam Round Up: AI voice scam finds another victim and more 

    By Greg Collier

    This week in the round-up, we’ll be discussing three scams we’ve discussed before, but have popped up again recently.

    Our first scam is the Medicare card scam. Medicare issued new cards back in 2018 which started using an ID# rather than the recipient’s Social Security number. This was done to help prevent Medicare fraud and ensure patient privacy. Ever since then, scammers have been trying to fool Medicare recipients into believing another new card was being issued. Scammers typically do this to try to steal their victim’s Medicare information.

    The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office has issued a warning which says scammers are calling residents posing as Medicare, the Social Security Administration, or the Department of Insurance. The scammers are telling residents they need to turn in their paper Medicare cards for new plastic ones. This is not true. If Medicare were to issue new cards, they would announce it through the mail and not by calling Medicare recipients.

    The next scam pertains to families who have a loved one who is currently incarcerated. The Georgia Parole Board has issued their own warning to the families of the incarnated. They’ve reported scammers are calling the families and asking for money for the release of their family member. The scammers claim the money is needed for an ankle monitor before the inmate could be released.

    According to the parole board, they will never call anyone’s family asking for money. Georgia residents are advised to check with the parole board’s website before to determine the current parole status of their family member.

    Our final scam is one that’s not that old and has been in the news a lot lately, the voice spoofing scam. Scammers are taking voice recordings from social media or spam phone calls and feeding it to an AI program that can replicate that person’s voice. So far, it’s mostly been used in the grandparent scam, and the virtual kidnapping scam.

    An elderly coupe from Texas fell victim to the grandparent scam when they heard the voice of their grandson asking for help. The AI-generated voice said they were in an accident in Mexico and needed $1000. Believing he was talking to his actual grandson, the grandfather sent the money.

    If you receive a call like this, don’t believe your ears, as they can be deceived. Instead, try to contact the person who is supposedly in danger before sending any money.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 27, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Man loses $38K to voice spoofing scam 

    Man loses $38K to voice spoofing scam

    By Greg Collier

    We haven’t seen a scam proliferate as fast as the voice spoofing scam in a while. Even scams like the Zelle scam, which took off like wildfire, didn’t spread this fast. For those who may just be learning about voice spoofing, or voice cloning as it’s sometimes called, scammers can spoof just about anyone’s voice. Using a voice recording taken from social media or spam phone calls, scammers can then use artificial intelligence (AI) programs to make that voice say just about anything they want.

    At the risk of sounding like a broken record, voice spoofing is typically used in two different scams, so far. One is the virtual kidnapping scam, and the other is the grandparent scam. Both scams rely on phone calls that need to sound as legitimate as possible, and using the voice of a victim’s loved one makes these scam calls sound more convincing than ever.

    The grandparent scam is a type of phone scam where a fraudster poses as a grandchild or another family member in distress and asks the targeted grandparent to send money immediately, often using wire transfers or gift cards, for a supposed urgent situation, such as bail or medical bills. The scam relies on the emotional manipulation and trust of the victim and often preys on their desire to help their loved ones.

    Before AI programs became so pervasive, scammers would always use some excuse as to why they didn’t sound like the victim’s grandchild. They would usually claim they had a broken nose or some other injury that made their voice sound different. Now, with voice spoofing, they don’t have to worry about that.

    Recently, an elderly man in Maryland fell victim to this scam. He received a call that sounded like it was coming from his granddaughter. The caller claimed they had been in an accident that sent several victims to the hospital. The fake granddaughter then turned the call over to a ‘lawyer’ who told the man that he needed to send $38,000 for bail, which he did. It was a few days later when he texted his granddaughter, he found out he had been scammed.

    Now you may think, this was an elderly person who is more vulnerable to scams like this. However, when a recording of the call was played for the granddaughter’s parents, they also said it sounded exactly like their daughter.

    There’s a saying that’s often attributed to Edgar Allan Poe that says, “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.” That adage couldn’t be truer when it comes to the grandparent scam. Even if you hear the voice of a loved one saying they’re in trouble and need money, try to contact that loved one immediately. Don’t believe any claims that you can’t hang up the phone or requests not to talk to anyone else in the family, even if the caller claims there is a gag order.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 18, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam, , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Police Impersonation Scams 

    Scam Round Up: Police Impersonation Scams

    By Greg Collier

    We often say the jury duty scam is probably the most common scam going if news reports are any indication. As we do research for this blog, we’ll find news stories about the jury duty scam on an almost daily basis. The jury duty scam is a form of another scam called the police impersonation scam, since the jury duty scam always involves the scammer posing as police. However, that is only one version of the police impersonation scam. Today, we’re bringing you three police impersonation scams that are happening around the country.

    You might have guesses that our first story is the arrest warrant scam. This is where scammers will call a victim while posing as police and telling the victim they have a warrant out for their arrest. Recently, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI has issued a warning that scammers are posing as the FBI. The phone calls to victims even show up as the FBI on caller IDs. Along with the threat of arrest, victims are being asked to purchase pre-paid debit cards and give the numbers to the scammers. The scammers claim these are to prove the victim’s identity.

    As with most police impersonation scams, real police do not call people who have warrants out for their arrest. Police would never give a real suspect a chance like that to flee.

    In Lawrence, Kansas, at least one victim has received phone calls that appeared to have come from the Lawrence Police Department. The caller accused the victim of harassment, while the caller ID carried a non-emergency number used by the LPD. The victim hung up on the caller and called the actual LPD. While the victim was on the phone with the LPD, the scammer called three more times.

    The LPD recommends if you receive a call like that, ask the caller for a name and badge number, then call the department the caller claims to be from.

    In Columbus, Ohio, the parents of a college-aged athlete got the scare of their life from a scammer. They received a call from someone claiming to be with the campus police from Ohio State University. The scammer claimed the couple’s daughter was arrested while leaving a nightclub, and if the parents didn’t pay $2000 their daughter would be turned over to the Columbus Police Department. Again, the caller ID had the number of the OSUPD.

    The parents didn’t fall for the scam, as their daughter had a game the next day, and she wouldn’t typically go out the night before a game. It turns out, the scammer targeted the parents of a number of athletes from the same team.

    If you think this sounds a lot like the grandparent scam, you’d be correct, as the grandparent scam is also another version of a police impersonation scam.

    If someone claims to be a police officer, ask for their name, badge number, and the name of the department they work for. You can then call the police department directly to verify their identity. Try to avoid volunteering any personal information, as that can be used against you while the scam is taking place. Lastly, never give the scammers any money. No legitimate law enforcement officer or agency will ever ask for money over the phone.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , grandparent scam,   

    Elderly couple helps bust scammers 

    Elderly couple helps bust scammers

    By Greg Collier

    Recently, the grandparent scam made its way through a part of Western Michigan along the shore of Lake Michigan. The grandparent scam is a type of fraud where scammers target elderly victims by impersonating their grandchild over the phone. The scammer will claim to be in legal trouble and ask for money to cover bail or other legal fees. To make the scam more convincing, the scammer may transfer the call to another individual pretending to be an attorney, police officer, or bail bondsman. This tactic has been used in numerous instances to trick victims into handing over their money.

    At least three sets of victims from Muskegon County in Michigan reported being approached by grandparent scammers. The first was an elderly woman who has difficulty hearing. As a result, she believed she was actually talking to her grandson. The phony grandson said he needed $9000 for bail money after getting into a car accident.

    The woman received another call from someone claiming to be her grandson’s attorney. That caller said he would meet with the woman, so he could collect the money that would bail out her grandson.

    The next day, the woman received another call from someone claiming to be the judge presiding over her grandson’s case. They said that the person her grandson was in an accident with died and the insurance company was requesting $25,000 to settle the matter out of court. The ‘judge’ was quick to settle on $19,000 since that was all the woman had.

    She was instructed to send cash through UPS to an address in Atlanta. After she dropped off the package, she had second thoughts and called the police. They were able top intercept the package before it reached its destination, but the initial $9000 was still lost. However, this is a great example of how scammers will almost always try to get more money out of a victim once the victim has made an initial payment to them.

    The next day, an elderly couple was called and someone posing as their grandson said they needed $25,000 for bail after getting into an accident with a politician. The call was then handed over to someone posing as the defense attorney. They told the grandparents that since a politician was involved in the crash, there was a gag order on the case. This supposedly meant that the grandparents couldn’t talk to anyone about the call. When asked why their grandson sounded so different, the caller responded that the grandson had come down with strep throat. As the grandfather was going to the bank, he started having second thoughts as well. He called his grandson, who was not in jail and did not have strep throat.

    The couple called the police, who had the couple arrange for the money to be picked up. When the scammers showed up to collect the money, they were arrested. The suspects from Florida are believed to be involved with a number of grandparent scams in the area. There was a third family in the area who were allegedly approached by the scammers, but they did not take the bait.

    The second scam attempt shows that scammers typically have an answer for every question you give them. Previously, we’ve heard of scammers saying the grandchild had a broken nose or missing teeth from the accident as why they sounded different. Scammers also love using the threat of a gag order to try to prevent the scam victim from speaking with anyone who might be familiar with the scam. Again, that’s not how gag orders work. No one can legally stop you from talking. Thankfully, the grandfather did the right thing by calling his grandson to make sure he wasn’t in jail. That should always be your first step when approached with a situation like this. And no matter what the caller says, you can talk to your family about it.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on March 6, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    AI voices used in grandparent scam 

    AI voices used in grandparent scam

    By Greg Collier

    If you follow the tech news at all, you’ll no doubt have heard about how artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly popular in the past year or so. You may have heard of the art generator known as DALL-E. It can produce images using any prompt you can give it. For example, the above picture was generated with an AI program called Stable Diffusion, using the prompt of ‘AI Voice’. You may have also heard of ChatGPT, a text-based AI that can generate just about anything in text form. Do you want to craft a professional sounding email to your boss? ChatGPT can generate that for you. Do you want ChatGPT to craft the lyrics of a song in the style of The Doors about soup? It can do that too.

    However, the more important question is, is AI advanced enough to be used in scams? Yes, it is.

    This past weekend, The Washington Post published a story about AI being used in one of the more common scams we post about, the grandparent scam. For those who may be unfamiliar, The grandparent scam is a type of phone scam where fraudsters impersonate a grandchild or other family member in distress to trick elderly individuals into sending them money. Typically, scammers will tell their elderly victims that they’ve had some kind of facial injury such as a broken nose as to why their voice sounds different from their actual grandchild.

    According to the Post, scammers are now using AI voice-cloning technology to sound exactly like the person they’re impersonating. Victims from both Canada and the United States have lost thousands of dollars to scammers using this technology.

    While voice cloning technology is nothing new, it has advanced exponentially in the past couple of years. It used to be someone would need vast amounts of recordings to accurately clone someone’s voice. Now, it only takes a 30-second recording to do so. If someone you know has posted a video or recording of themselves on social media where they’re talking, their voice can now be cloned.

    You can still protect yourself from this scam, as long as you disregard what your ears are telling you. If you receive a call from a relative or loved one asking for money because they’re in trouble, you should still follow the same precautions, even if it sounds exactly like them. Hang up on the call and contact the person who’s supposedly in trouble. If you can’t reach them, ask other family members who might know where they are. Tell them the exact situation you encountered, and never keep it a secret. Lastly, never send money under any means.

     

  • Geebo 9:01 am on February 28, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: grandparent scam, , , ,   

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams 

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams

    By Greg Collier

    It wasn’t too long ago when we wondered if scammers were putting rideshare drivers in danger. That’s because scammers are using rideshare drivers as unwitting couriers or chauffeurs. In most instances, the scammers will use rideshares like Uber and Lyft to collect packages of cash from their victims. In other instances, scammers have sent rideshares to their victims’ homes, so the victim can be taken to the bank to get more money for the scammers. This has led to confusion on the part of police, where they don’t know whether the rideshare driver is involved in the scam or not. While no driver that we know of has been injured by police, it can only take one wrong move for the situation to escalate in violence.

    More recently, we’ve learned that not only are the scammers using rideshare drivers as couriers, but the drivers are being asked to drive across state lines to deliver stolen cash. In Western, Pennsylvania, an elderly woman lost $25,000 in a grandparent scam. Believing her grandson was in legal trouble, she gave a package with the money inside to a rideshare driver that the scammers had called for her.

    As can be usual with scammers, once they took money from the victim once, they tried to get more. When the new driver showed up to collect the package, he told the grandmother that his destination was somewhere in New Jersey. If you’re not familiar with the geography of the Northeast, that’s roughly a 12-hour round trip, depending on where in New Jersey the driver was headed. Let’s say that the driver was going from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City. Not only is that a 12-hour or more round trip depending on traffic, but it’s also a $1000 trip. The scammers can afford it since they’re getting thousands of dollars from their victims.

    In case you were wondering, like we were, rideshare drivers get around 25% of the fare. So, a trip from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City would be a thousand dollars, but the driver would have to drive for 12 hours. That comes out to $250 for the driver, which is around $21/hr. This does not take gas and tolls that the driver would need to pay out of their own pocket. We’d love to hear from rideshare drivers if this would be a fare they would be interested in taking. Is it worth the money?

    Thankfully, the second driver was stopped by police after the grandmother realized she had been scammed. State Troopers escorted the driver to New Jersey, where they arrested two men alleged to be behind the scam.

    While both Lyft and Uber both have parcel delivery services, we would suggest that both companies need to educate their drivers on how to be on the lookout for scams and illegal activity. Maybe have their drivers go through a checklist with the sender about various scams, such as the grandparent scam. Such a small step could go a long way in helping prevent scam victims from losing their money.

     

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