In a shocking incident that highlights the dark side of emerging technologies, a 62-year-old man from Yamuna Vihar area in Delhi was recently duped of Rs 50,000 by cybercriminals who used artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the voice of his nephew.
The Incident
As per the complaint filed by Lakshmi Chand Chawla, he received a WhatsApp message on October 24 claiming that his 25-year-old nephew had been kidnapped. To make the situation appear more dire, the fraudsters played an audio clip in which Chawla could hear his nephew crying for help in the background.
Scared for his nephew’s safety, Chawla immediately complied with the extortion demand and transferred Rs 50,000 to the given bank account. However, upon contacting his nephew’s parents, he was relieved to find out that his nephew was safe at home. It was then that Chawla realized he had become the latest victim of an AI-enabled voice cloning scam.
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The Modus Operandi
While the Delhi Police is still investigating this case, cybersecurity experts shed some light on the possible modus operandi. It is likely that the scammers used voice cloning software to recreate Chawla’s nephew’s voice with near-perfect accuracy. By editing snippets of the original voice and using AI to fill in the gaps, such systems can clone anyone’s voice with just a few sample recordings.
This cloned voice, along with a convincing background score, was enough to trick Chawla into thinking his nephew was in grave danger. Preying on his panic and anxiety, the scammers persuaded him to transfer the money without cross-checking the facts.
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The Aftermath
An FIR has been registered by the Delhi Police and a probe is currently underway to identify and nab the cybercriminals involved in this incident.
However, this case has raised pertinent questions about the growing menace of AI-enabled crimes that leverage sophisticated technologies to exploit human emotions and vulnerabilities.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Delhi registered 685 cybercrime cases in 2022 as compared to 345 cases in 2021 – indicating a whopping 98.5% increase year-on-year. As criminals continue to upgrade their tech arsenal, police and cybersecurity agencies also need to ramp up their readiness through continuous training, awareness and global collaboration.
Stricter surveillance of activities on the dark web and stringent punishments for tech-enabled frauds can also play a role in deterring such crimes. But ultimately, continuous public awareness and caution may be the best safeguard against ever-evolving cyber threats.
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