Scammers use Artificial Intelligence to clone voices and ask for money. See how to protect yourself

The newspaper O Globo showed that scammers have been using artificial intelligence tools to clone voices and ask for money. The report provides tips and guidance on how to protect yourself to avoid this type of scam. Dr. Matheus Puppe, partner in the TMT, Privacy & Data Protection area at Maneira Advogados, was one of the experts interviewed by the newspaper to comment on the matter.

Scammers use Artificial Intelligence to clone voices and ask for money. See how to protect yourself

May 22, 2023

Software already allows you to record audio from seconds of speech and has been used by criminals to carry out scams. Expert recommends calling back to check information

By Ana Flávia Pilar— Rio
(Photo: Influencer Dario Centurione: his father received a call with a voice similar to his and fell for the scam | Credit: Reproduction from social networks)

Last month, journalist Joanna Stern, from the Wall Street Journal, decided to test how far she could deceive people with a virtual clone of her voice and image, created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. He didn't have much success with the video, so he used the cloned voice in a call to his father, in which he asked for a sensitive document and was promptly answered.

The father of digital influencer Dario Centurione, from the Almanaque SOS page, also believed in his son's cloned voice. The difference is that the call was not just a joke, but a scam.

— My father received a call where a person, who he believed to be me, asked for R$600. Because the voice was very similar, my father didn't even bother to ask the basics. The person asked for a transfer to an account that wasn't in my name, but he didn't even care because the voice was mine — said Centurione.

The compatibility of the cloned voice was so similar to the influencer's natural voice that his father didn't notice any difference, even though he was a musician and sound specialist. By logging into an app, Centurione was able to easily create a copy of her own voice and decided to repeat the Wall Street Journal journalist's experiment.

— I went to check if I was fooling anyone and not only did I manage to fool my father again, but also my mother, who is super suspicious. My younger brother realized that the voice was not mine. It is a scam that will become more sophisticated, soon the tools should be faster and more efficient, which could make elderly people victims more frequently. Younger people, even due to their knowledge of the potential of technology, are more attentive.

TO AVOID FALLING FOR THE SCAM, SEE EXPERT TIPS

1. Be aware of the veracity of the information: before acting based on a phone call, message or video, check the information in other sources. For example, calling back, confirming by email or checking with others who can guarantee authenticity.
2. Protect your data: Minimize the amount of personal information you share online. By providing less data, you reduce the material available to cyber criminals who want to create deepfakes or imitate your voice.
3. Educate yourself about technology: Knowing how these technologies work and being aware of the latest trends and fraud tactics can help you better protect yourself.
4. Check your bank account: always check the recipients when sending money to a family

VOICE CLONES GENERATED IN A FEW DAYS

Tools like VALL-E, from Microsoft, can create long audios with just three seconds of speech as a reference. The technology is capable of synthesizing a recording of someone's voice and transforming this file into another, maintaining the original characteristics, such as the tone of speech.

The new software was made available on May 20th for anyone interested, and a fee will be charged for use. The company Synthesia offers the same service. It is possible to record a 15-minute video and send it to the tool. Based on this video, a virtual clone will be created in just a few days. The annual cost for use is US$1,000, plus a monthly subscription of US$30.

According to Lucas Cabral, AI analyst at Play9, tools that create fake audio always need “input” from the user, that is, the sending of an audio or video that will be used as a basis for creating the copy.

So, if you want Darth Vader to read personalized text, it's easier than if you want to copy the voice of someone who isn't a public figure. Influencers, artists and presenters — like Centurione — rely on hours and hours of speeches published on the internet, so they are more vulnerable to the creation of voice clones.

MOST VULNERABLE PUBLIC PEOPLE

The technology is the same used in location applications, for example, where you hear personalities like Silvio Santos indicating the way. It's difficult to imagine that the presenter recorded himself saying “turn right”, explains Cabral, but there are large banks of videos in which he appears speaking.

— In short, you capture a voice, put it into the tool and it identifies patterns to create a modification. It really looks very similar to the original. You can write something and the tool plays the audio text based on a reference already sent, or the tool can generate an audio simultaneously, in which you speak and it changes based on a reference — explained the expert.

These many possibilities maximize the chances of scams involving personal information. Pedro Diógenes, technical director LATAM at the information security company CLM, says that in the past it was necessary to have a large amount of data to train the algorithms, with hours and hours of audio of people crying, screaming and saying different words.

Now, with very little data, it is possible to faithfully reproduce someone's voice, imitating accent, cry and intonation.

— The scammer studies you before committing the scam, so imagine him with your daughter's voice. People will have to educate themselves (to avoid falling for the scam), combining passwords that only they know for these cases. The strategy is to ask questions.

Lawyer Matheus Puppe, partner in the TMT, Privacy and Data Protection area at Maneira Advogados, explains that this type of tool opens the door to even bigger scams.

Voice impersonation has been used to commit financial fraud, tricking individuals and businesses into transacting based on instructions given in a fake but convincing phone call.

— Hence the need for robust legislation and regulation sensitive to the topic that can balance technological advances with the necessary security and privacy. We need more effective accountability mechanisms to combat the misuse of these technologies and, simultaneously, promote awareness and digital education — said the expert.

https://oglobo.globo.com/economia/tecnologia/noticia/2023/05/alo-pai-golpistas-usam-inteligencia-artificial-para-clonar-vozes-e-pedir-dinheiro-veja-como-se-proteger.ghtml