Why I never say ‘hello’ first when I answer the phone: RACHEL RICKARD STRAUS on a terrifying new AI scam

When I get a call from a number I don’t recognize, I answer the phone and remain silent until the caller identifies himself.

It feels terribly discourteous and not an ideal response when, say, my doctor’s office calls.

But if it helps protect me from the new sophisticated AI fraud techniques floating around, it might be worth it.

One of these is voice cloning, where scammers take just a short clip of your voice and use artificial intelligence to create a digital copy of your voice that sounds just like you, which can be used to say whatever the scammer chooses.

They can then use your voice to trick your loved ones into sending them money, for example by making an excuse or claiming you are in trouble.

I’m hoping that if I don’t share my voice, it will be a little harder for scammers to access and exploit it.

As soon as I identify the caller, I immediately apologize for my rudeness and make up for it with extreme cheerfulness; I’m sure this makes my phone demeanor seem even weirder.

It’s not great, but I’m afraid we’ll all have to adapt our methods to combat the onslaught of AI fraud coming our way.

This week, a city watchdog report on the future of AI in financial services warned starkly that it was coming.

The Financial Conduct Authority report states, “Artificial intelligence will increase fraud and cyber risks by 2030.” ‘They will be faster, cheaper, more scalable and more convincing.’

Fraud has always been a scourge, and in recent years its impact has been devastating.

More than four million cases of money loss were reported last year, according to the latest figures from industry body UK Finance.

Last year £1.3 billion was stolen by fraudsters.

But as we move into this new era where fraudsters are armed with artificial intelligence, the risks could be much greater. They have this new weapon, so we’re going to need new strategies to fight back.

First, we can no longer try to outsmart scammers; they’re getting smarter for it and we won’t win.

For example, just a few years ago I applauded a reader who contacted me to say that she kept them on the phone and directed them when they were called by scammers.

His reasoning was that as long as they talked to him, they wouldn’t try their luck with other potential victims.

But now I advise the reader to hang up as quickly as possible. Their efforts will now be in vain as scammers can use AI to make numerous calls simultaneously. And I would worry that they might copy his voice and use it against him.

One strategy for beating the dangers of cloning and impersonation is to create a code word with your loved one that only you know, so you can prove you’re talking to the right person when you need it.

Second, we need to stop assuming that we can detect that a website, social media post, email, phone call, or message was created by a scammer.

Some signs may have existed until recently. For example, grammar may be poor, correspondence that appears to be from your bank will look nothing like the original article, and web pages will be full of errors.

But fraudsters are increasingly able to copy perfectly with the help of artificial intelligence.

Targeted: More than four million cases of money loss were reported last year, with up to £1.3bn stolen by fraudsters

For example, a scam is currently circulating showing a BBC news article about Reform England leader Nigel Farage’s argument with Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey.

Farage appears to be claiming that he knew of a major investment that could make people rich, and that the Bank is blocking their access to it. Nothing about the report is true and Farage had nothing to do with it, but it seems extremely realistic. With artificial intelligence, these copies will look more authentic than ever.

Third, we need to be alert to the rise of personalization.

Until recently, scammers had to attack thousands of potential victims with the same fake message.

For example, they send a text message claiming to be from a specific phone carrier. Any recipient who is not a customer of this carrier will consider the message suspicious or ignore the message. However, for those in this situation, the message may have turned out to be true and they may have fallen into a trap.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, scammers can personalize messages to appear more convincing; This means everyone is at risk of falling for them.

As the FCA report states: ‘Artificial intelligence is making the spread of scams and scams faster and more convincing, particularly impersonation, synthetic identity exploitation and automated social engineering attacks.’

So we will have to be even more careful. Take a moment before responding to any correspondence from your bank or other providers. If you have any doubts, contact the company directly instead of responding to the message you receive.

And remember that in this world of artificial intelligence, often the most useful weapon is humans. If you’re not sure, check messages with your loved ones.

rachel.rickard@dailymail.co.uk