AI impersonation scams Canadian couple of USD 21,000
An elderly Canadian couple were defrauded of CAD 21,000 after they were contacted by an alleged lawyer who said their son had killed a US diplomat in a car accident and required money for legal support. What happened The s cammers used AI technology to clone the voice of Benjamin Perkins, the son of the couple, which had been available online through videos he posted on platforms like YouTube. According to the Washington Post , a "l awyer " had allegedly put Benjamin on the line to underline the gravity and urgency of the situation. Perkins' synthetic voice was sufficiently close to his real voice that his parents believed the call and sent the money to the scammer using Bitcoin. The couple only realised they had been scammed after Perkin called later that evening. Perkin told the the Post that he didn't know how the scammer discovered his voice, though he had posted videos about snowmobiling on YouTube. Why it happened It is likely the Canadian couple were targeted due their age and their son's extensive online footprint, which could easily be exploited using AI technologies for malicious purposes. Why it matters Th e incident highlights the growing sophistication of scams i ncorporating AI tools, making it easier for fraudsters to impersonate and exploit vulnerable peo ple . The rise of such scams coincides with an increase in reported fraud cases, with the US Federal Trade Commission noting a significant rise in imposter scams . Identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number , without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. Source: Wikipedia 🔗 System 🤖 Unknown Operator: Developer: Country: Canada Sector: Banking/financial services Purpose: Defraud Technology: Deepfake - audio; Machine learning Issue: Impersonation; Fraud
- Date it happened
- 2023-03-01
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