A Georgia mother nearly fell for a $50,000 kidnapping scheme when scammers used AI to imitate her daughter’s voice.
Debbie Shelton Moore recently received a phone call at her home in Cherokee County from three men who claimed to have her daughter, Lauren, in the trunk of a vehicle. They demanded that the Moore family come up with the money or risk their child being harmed. What made the call so believable was that Moore could hear her daughter’s voice screaming “Mom!” in the background. Thankfully, Moore’s husband, who works in cybersecurity and is familiar with the use of AI, Facetimed Lauren and found her safe, though her car was stalled on the side of a road. They soon realized that the fraudsters had used a fake voice remarkably similar to that of the 22-year-old.
“My heart is beating, and I’m shaking. It just sounded so much like her. It was 100% believable. Enough to almost give me a heart attack from sheer panic,” Moore explained to 11 Alive.
The scammers also used a “678” area code, which is common in Kennesaw, where Lauren lives. Moore called her local police department, who then contacted partners with the Kennesaw Police. Officers paid a courtesy visit to Lauren, verifying that she was indeed okay, putting Moore at ease. Sadly, this type of con is growing in popularity.
Per a new report published by McAfee, one in four consumers has received an AI phone call pretending to be someone they know. Of those who fell for the scams, 36% were swindled out of sums between $500 and $3,000. Only 7% of victims reported losing more considerable sums, up to $15,000. However, this only takes into account those who documented the calls. Luckily, Moore learned the truth before she lost such a hefty amount.
