Artificial intelligence has added a new layer of subterfuge to spoofing, extending its reach and worsening its effect on victims.
Phishing, which as far back as the 1990s used fake emails to scam unsuspecting victims, evolved into the use of fake SMS or text messages, known as smishing attacks. Now, that evolution has entered a new stage with voice-phishing or vishing attacks that involve voice cloning.
One method is to send a voicemail message generated by artificial intelligence (AI), seemingly from a panicked child or grandchild, to a family member, urging them to send money, often through a bogus bank link.
“The everyday vishing script is a high-pressure, ‘urgent problem’ phone call,” Nathan House, CEO of StationX, a United Kingdom-based cybersecurity training platform, told The Epoch Times.
“The caller spoofs your bank’s number, claims your account is compromised, and needs you to ’verify’ a one-time passcode they just texted—actually your real two-factor code,” he said.
“Other variants impersonate police, utility companies, or a panicked relative demanding emergency funds.
“The hallmarks are a trusted name on caller ID, an emotional or financial threat, and a demand for immediate action—usually sharing credentials, reading back a code, or wiring money,” House said.
Jurgita Lapienyte, chief editor of Cyber News, a Lithuania-based publication focused on cybersecurity, highlighted the growing prevalence of vishing.
She warned that while current AI voice cloning technology is only able to stick to a script and can’t react spontaneously to questions or responses in real time, “it’s only a matter of time until it actually learns to be more like us and can be weaponized against us.”
“If I feel like I’m actually talking to a relative of mine, I will be more willing to lend them money, because I’m convinced that this is the actual person that I’m talking to, and this is really dangerous,” she said.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3) annual cybercrime report, released on April 23, stated that in 2024 it had received 193,407 complaints of phishing or spoofing (a technique in which scammers mask their own phone numbers and trick victims into thinking they are on a genuine call). That made it the most prevalent type of scam, compared to 86,415 for extortion and 441 for malware.
House said the FBI report shows how prevalent the phishing or spoofing problem has become.
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