A California family endured a terrifying ordeal after an artificial intelligence scammer tricked them into believing their son had been in a serious accident.
According to a San Francisco newspaper report, Amy Trapp was working at Mill Valley School in suburban San Francisco when she received a call from an unknown number and when she picked up the phone, she heard a voice she believed was her son's. Chronicle.
“My son was crying on the phone and saying, 'Mom, mom, I was in a car accident,'” Trapp told the show.
The mother said she immediately felt a panic and had visions of her son, who was attending college near California's central coast, lying in a pool of his own blood under a car or on the side of the road. Instead, another voice is heard on the phone, telling Trapp that he is a police officer and that her son Will has been taken to prison for injuring a pregnant woman in an accident.
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Trapp said she bought the story because the voice on the other end was definitely her son's. She also trusted another man who claimed to be Will's public defender and asked him to withdraw more than $15,500 for Will's bail.
Hours later, Trapp's husband called police directly and the couple learned that the ordeal was actually a scam. The men used advanced AI technology to recreate Will's voice to fool Will's worried mother. Will was oblivious to the drama unfolding between his parents and he remained in the living room studying the entire time.
“As deepfake technology improves and becomes more accessible, scams like this are increasing every day,” Christopher Alexander, chief analytics officer at Pioneer Development Group, told Fox News Digital. Told. “Scams like this are successful because they put a lot of stress on the victim in hopes that the imperfections in the deepfake will go undetected.”
Telephone scams have been around for years, but AI fraud threatens to become a growing problem, making it harder for victims to realize they're being scammed.
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“Scam phone calls have been a consistent problem for Americans for years, but no one expects to fall for one,” said Aiden Buzzetti, president of the Bull Moose Project, on FOX News Digital. told. “The widespread use of AI voice replication will make even the most technologically savvy users susceptible to being fooled, especially when human instincts come into play.
“The criminals behind these robocalls are fabricating high-stakes situations to give parents and grandparents tunnel vision, worsen their emotions, and prevent them from thinking clearly. We must continue to encourage federal and state authorities to crack down on robocalls by prosecuting services that allow robocalls.''For foreign spammers. ”
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“We are witnessing an alarming explosion of voice fraud leveraging Al. Now, the threat to families is growing. ,” said Jake Denton, a researcher at the Heritage Institute. Foundation's Technology Policy Center told Fox News Digital.
“These scams tend to prey on the emotions of unsuspecting people and often imitate the voices of family members rushing for help. To protect yourself from these scams, families should We should take proactive measures to protect ourselves.”
In Trapp's case, his worried mother recalled that she had “no doubt” that she was talking to her son, which led to an adrenaline rush and when what appeared to be police officers was dispatched. His judgment has become impaired.
A few minutes later, a man claiming to be a public defender named David Bell called and told the concerned mother that he could negotiate her son's bail from $50,000 to $15,000, and he would immediately give her the money. I asked if I could get one. Trapp agreed.
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“He said, 'Don't say it.' [the bank] “I don't want to tarnish my son's reputation, so why am I getting paid?” Trapp said, adding that in her state of mind “she would have done anything he told her to do.”
Later, Trapp remembers getting in the car to pick up her husband, who was convinced that his wife was talking to their son. The couple went to the bank and withdrew $15,500.
“It all boils down to her mother recognizing that voice,” said her father, Andy Trapp. “We talk to her several times a week.” “I never thought I would get into something like that.”
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When they got home, the person who was supposed to be their public defender told them that a courier was coming to their house to collect the money, and alarm bells finally went off in the couple's heads.
“That sounded completely wrong,” Andy Trapp said.
That's when the situation became unbearable for Amy Trapp. Trapp said he knelt in front of his family's home.
“Where is my son? Where is my son?” she cried.
Andy Trapp then called the local police station where the incident allegedly occurred. His worried father was told there was no record of the accident. That's when the couple finally called their son, who was in college, but he was completely unaware of the situation.
“Hey, what's going on?” Will answered calmly, according to the Trapps.
The report says scam call attempts like the one made against Trapp are illegal, but because the scams often originate overseas, they are often difficult to investigate and prosecute. .
Samuel Mangold-Rennette, an editorial staff member at The Federalist, believes more can be done to protect potential victims.
“Phishing scams remain a serious problem, but now that AI allows malicious parties to utilize sophisticated voice cloning techniques, anyone with a mobile phone is a potential target.” Mangold Rennett told FOX News Digital. “More needs to be done to hold those who perpetrate these frauds to account. The laws already in place are likely to be applicable in this situation, but perhaps more so. Concrete regulations should be introduced.”
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Phil Siegel, founder of the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS), told Fox News Digital that it's unclear how often AI is used in such crimes; It warned that such incidents are likely to increase in the coming years.
“Many seniors and older adults don't use AI, so they don't take the time to understand it, making them easy targets for scams like this,” Siegel said. “Whether you're going to jail, getting into a car accident, needing money for home repairs, or being scammed a lot more, this is going to happen more often in the coming years.”
Experts say AI scams often target the elderly. (Cyberguy.com)
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Siegel said people can protect themselves by being cautious, especially when it comes to financial transactions.
“The lesson is to always call the person back before you do anything,” Siegel said. “Never give cash, wire transfers, Venmo money, or crypto coins to anyone you don’t know or employ, and of course, if it involves law enforcement, first Please check with the police.”
Will Trapp told the San Francisco Chronicle he doesn't know how the scammers were able to copy his voice, and although his social media accounts are private, he occasionally sings and makes music online. He pointed out that he sometimes posts on.
“It's hard to imagine how it would be used because it doesn't sound like my speaking voice,” he said. “It's really scary.”
