How to Avoid Frightening AI Voice Scam

#HOWTO | Using AI, bad actors are employing a scam where you believe a loved one has been kidnapped. It's a worst-case-scenario use of this tech, but any voice scam is unnerving. What to do…

Even if you’ve heard or read of warnings that scammers are using voice AI to convince people that a loved one is in distress, it’s nothing compared to actually reading first-hand account details (or being targeted yourself). Faced with a terrifying call from, what one believes is, a family member in danger can throw even the most stoic into a complete tailspin of panic and chaos.

Mom Jennifer DeStefano told senators at the Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law hearing last year that she had no reason at all to doubt the veracity of the call she received about her daughter. Participating in a sporting event two hours away with her father, Jennifer had no reason to doubt that something had gone wrong and her daughter had been taken. From the New Yorker magazine story recounting Jennifer’s plight:

“A man with a Spanish accent could be heard telling her, ‘Lay down and put your head back.’ Then Briana said, ‘Mom, these bad men have me. Help me, help me, help me.’ One of the men …