‘Nasty’ phone call ‘clones your voice’ to steal your money | UK | News
Which? People who respond to a seemingly innocuous phone call risk having their bank accounts “emptied” through a “disgusting” scheme, experts warn. The caller may even claim to have filled out a lifestyle survey, but they have nothing to do with the answers and are only focused on two things.
At some point during the interview, victims are asked to provide their banking information, including account number and sort code. But this is only part of what will eventually become fraud, as the identities of the targets are also secretly ‘cloned’.
Which one? The spokesperson explained: “As you answer questions, this information is used to create a complex AI-generated clone of your voice. This information is then transferred or sold along with your voice clone to another criminal group.”
Armed with these details and a realistic copy of your voice, scammers have everything they need to set up direct debits in your name from a seemingly trustworthy company that is just a front. They use ‘clone’ audio created from survey responses to bypass bank security measures and gradually drain funds without some victims even realizing it. reports the mirror.
Whose spokesperson? He said: “Nothing gets flagged by your bank because the details are correct. Now your hard-earned money goes straight into the hands of fraudsters.”
How can I protect myself and others from this?
The simplest method to avoid getting into this situation is to avoid answering unexpected calls, especially calls from unknown numbers. Receiving an unwanted spam call will likely lead to more calls; because this shows cold callers that your number is active and legitimate and marks you as a “live” target to be called again or passed on to other scammers.
Which? recommends that people consider checking with their phone providers about call blocking features. They said: “Androids have a setting called ‘Filter Spam Calls’ and iPhones have a ‘Silence unknown callers’ feature.”
If someone answers a call from someone claiming to represent their bank, the best thing to do is hang up immediately—especially if the call is unexpected. Which? He claimed people could call 159 and ask to speak to real banking providers.
The program guides callers through a series of options to connect them to a verified customer service department. Calling 159 in the UK is not usually free, but it is low cost and often equivalent to a national rate call. It’s treated like a standard landline or mobile phone call; this usually means it’s included in your provider’s “included minutes” packages
To prevent frauds from going undetected and further victims coming forward, report the matter to reportfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040. Even if the scam fails and you are not scammed out of any money, it is still worth reporting it. Doing so may help warn others who have already been victimized or are at risk of being victimized in the future.
