Scammers Can Clone Your Voice to Trick Your Loved Ones

• The Starling Bank recently launched a campaign in which it talks about the dangers of voice cloning.
• Scammers only need a few seconds of your voice, which they can take from your social media posts, to create an identical clone.
• Starling Bank recommends having a Safe phrase" with your loved ones to avoid falling for such scams.

Uploading voice recordings online is no longer safe. Even a small recording of a few seconds can put you and your loved ones in danger.

Starlink Bank recently started a campaign called Safe Phrase' that talks about how fraudsters can use voice cloning AI tools to extract the voice of users from their social media posts and use it to trick their friends and family.

Basically, in these types of scams, people close to you will get a call or a voice message that'll sound just like you. Except, it will be a scammer on the other hand using your voice to imitate you.

Also, these messages are usually made to sound like it's urgent so that the victim doesn't ask too many questions before sending the money.

• The worst part is that more than 46% of the population is not yet aware of such scams.
• The survey also revealed that about 8% of the people would readily send the money, even if the call sounded fishy.

This goes on to show that these scams have the potential to do some real damage.

According to research conducted by Mortar Research, more than 3,000 people in the UK have already been scammed this way in the last 12 months.

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?

Starlink Bank suggests having a safe phrase with your friends and family so they know it's really you when they get a call asking for money.

I have children myself, and the thought of them being scammed in this way is really scary. I'll definitely be setting up a safe phrase with my own family and friends.' - Actor James Nesbitt, the face of this campaign

This safe phrase can be anything - a simple, random, easy-to-remember phrase that is different from all your other passwords.

However, if a scammer can copy your voice and track down people you know, there's a chance they might be able to compromise the safe phrase as well (by getting into your chats perhaps).

So the next best option is to simply take a step back and evaluate the situation. The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign says the same thing - take a step back and really think if this could be a scam.

• If you are still in doubt, you can disconnect the call and try to call back (on the number of that person that you have saved on your device).
• If you believe you have already been scammed, don't shy away from contacting your bank and the authorities as soon as possible.

It is always wise to stay vigilant rather than to repent after getting scammed. Recently, US lawmakers introduced the NO FAKES Act, which prohibits replication of a user's body, face, or voice during their lifetime and up to 70 years.

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