CBC’s Marketplace investigates how scammers are pulling off ever more sophisticated cons with artificial intelligence tools that allow them to convincingly mimic anyone — even close friends and family.

Las Vegas

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

Detecting scams has become increasingly challenging as scammers leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to perpetrate more convincing frauds. At the world's largest fraud prevention conference, concerns are mounting over the use of AI to clone voices and trick individuals. Overseas scammers are reportedly harvesting social media content to create fraudulent scenarios involving victims' families and friends. Former CIA officer Peter Warmcutt demonstrated this process, easily cloning a voice in under a minute using social media as a resource.

One notable case highlights the dangers, involving Marilyn Crawford, who received an early morning call from someone claiming to be law enforcement. The caller falsely informed her that her grandson was in custody for car theft and demanded $9,000 for his release. This type of fraud is known as the grandparent scam. The scam was so convincing that Crawford believed her grandson was genuinely in trouble. However, a bank teller intervened, preventing her from losing any money.

In efforts to combat such scams, British telecom company O2 has developed an AI named Daisy, designed to engage scammers and waste their time. While these technological advancements underscore the sophistication of both scamming techniques and preventive measures, they highlight the ongoing battle between scammers and authorities.



How AI is helping phone scammers dupe victims

Detecting scams is about to get a whole lot harder as scammers embrace artificial intelligence. Oh it's a playground. At the world's largest fraud training and prevention conference the alarm bells are sounding. Overseas scammers are harvesting our posts and videos from social media to use against our family and friends. Former CIA officer Peter Warmcutt did it in under a minute using me as an example. Hi this is David Common reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada at the 35th annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. That's nuts. I spoke none of those words but AI can clone my voice precisely from social media. It may have happened to Marilyn Crawford. An early morning phone call from a man identifying himself as the local police. Her son Kevin recounts what the caller said next. We have your grandson in custody. He has been involved with a car theft and we need $9,000 to release him. It's called the grandparent scam. They said here we have Ian here and he goes hi grandma. Please say they need some money to release me or they're gonna keep me in jail. In that moment did you believe it was your grandson in trouble? I did. I really did. The scammers even sent her a taxi to take her to the bank. But an alert teller there stopped Marilyn from losing any money. Just as scammers use AI for voice cloning. Hello scammers. I'm your worst nightmare. A British telecom is using AI to fight back. I'm an AI created by O2 to waste phone scammers time. Daisy is not real but she convincingly keeps scammers on the line. Because while they're busy talking to me they can't be scamming you. All of it underscoring how much more sophisticated scams and scam busting have now become. David Common, CBC News, Toronto.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will do "anything" to advance EU accession talks. Zelenskyy spoke alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine will do 'anything' to advance EU accession talks: Zelenskyy

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Washington

Global Tariffs

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Gilimanuk

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Tehran

Iran Strikes

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Boise

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Rise of AI