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Almost half of Indians Experience AI-enabled Fake Voice Scams

CIO Insider Team | Tuesday, 2 May, 2023
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According to a survey of Indians, over half admitted that they are unable to tell the difference between a person's true voice and a clone, and 83 percent of voice scam victims reported losing money, according to a report by online security company McAfee. A poll about impostor voice frauds using artificial intelligence was conducted among 7,054 respondents in seven countries, including 1,010 from India.

The research recommends adopting a vocal codeword among family members and close friends you can trust as one of the defenses against voice scams.

"About half (47 percent) of Indian adults have experienced or know someone who has experienced some kind of AI voice scam, which is almost double the global average (25 percent). 83 percent of Indian victims said they had a loss of money- with 48 percent losing over Rs 50,000," the report said.

According to a poll by McAfee, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is causing an increase in online speech scams because it only takes three seconds of audio to copy someone's voice.

"The survey reveals that more than half (69 percent) of Indians think they don't know or cannot tell the difference between an AI voice and real voice," the report said.

"Artificial Intelligence brings incredible opportunities, but with any technology, there is always the potential for it to be used maliciously in the wrong hands. This is what we're seeing today with the access and ease of use of AI tools helping cybercriminals to scale their efforts in increasingly convincing ways," McAfee CTO Steve Grobman said.

According to the survey, 66 percent of respondents from India stated they would respond to a voicemail or voice note claiming to be from a friend or loved one who needed money.

"Particularly if they thought the request had come from their parent (46 percent), partner or spouse (34 percent), or child (12 percent). Messages most likely to elicit a response were those claiming that the sender had been robbed (70 percent), was involved in a car incident (69 percent), lost their phone or wallet (65 percent) or needed help while travelling abroad (62 percent)," the report said.

The survey also revealed that the prevalence of deep fakes and misinformation has made people more skeptical of what they see online, with 27 percent of Indian adults reporting that they are now less trusting of social media than ever before and 43 percent expressing concern over the spread of misinformation or disinformation.

"Artificial Intelligence brings incredible opportunities, but with any technology, there is always the potential for it to be used maliciously in the wrong hands. This is what we're seeing today with the access and ease of use of AI tools helping cybercriminals to scale their efforts in increasingly convincing ways," McAfee CTO Steve Grobman said.



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