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Original poster

Scam Voice was apparently me.

57 replies

Newtonianmechanics · 10/12/2023 11:02

My dm is on holiday in Spain.

She has previously nearly been caught out by the text scam where the scammer pretends a loved one has lost their phone and needs money.

Having learned from this. Last night the same thing happened. She called the number. She is adamant it was me on rhe other end. She said I was upset and worrying about the cost to call. She tried to transfer me £985 for an iPhone. However she forgot her login code and was timed out. She said I was raging. Hung up and ahe kept trying.

She phoned my husband this morning to see if I was ok. Clearly it wasn't me.

Has this happened to anyone?

OP posts:
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AlmostAJillSandwich · 10/12/2023 19:18

Maybe she's doubling down on insisting it was you/your voice because she's embarrassed shes fallen for it and only was saved by forgetting a password and getting locked out.

junebirthdaygirl · 10/12/2023 17:37

An American lawyer was warning about this last week. His "son" called him saying he was in an accident and because he had failed the breathalyser he was now in custody and needed to be bailed out. It was his sons voice. He rushed to help him by transferring money but during that process rang his ds's wife and realised it was all a hoax. He was so upset as so nearly caught and wanted to warn everyone

Original poster
Newtonianmechanics · 10/12/2023 17:30

EmptyYoghurtPot · 10/12/2023 13:38

How old is DM? Could it be an age related thing?
Or (and I’m not trying to be funny here) but if she’s on holiday had she had too much to drink and either got confused or dreamed the whole thing? Surely common sense would tell her that you wouldn’t bother her on holiday when you have a husband who was presumably with you? And she waited till this morning to check on you?
None of this makes sense.

I suspect this is more likely the case than dementia. She has had more than a ' small glass of wine'

I am worried she thought I had a new bank account lost my phone and was in big trouble. All out of character for me.

OP posts:
Original poster
Newtonianmechanics · 10/12/2023 17:27

SurelySmartie · 10/12/2023 13:16

Just to be clear OP are there any videos at all online of you and your voice?

No I only have facebook. I rarely post.
I don't even have my voice on my own voicemail.

OP posts:
muckandmerriment · 10/12/2023 14:59

They don't even need to find videos online. All they need to do is call you and for you to say hello a couple of times.

Sera1989 · 10/12/2023 14:56

iPhones can already replicate and synthesize voices as part of an accessibility feature (instructions from the Apple website here) it isn't a super quick thing to do but as it's something we can already do with our phone for free I wouldn't be surprised if the technology quickly progresses and is used by scammers

Create a Personal Voice on your iPhone, iPad or Mac – Apple Support (UK)

With Personal Voice, you can create a synthesised voice that sounds like your own to communicate with family and friends. Use your Personal Voice to type to speak in FaceTime and phone calls, assistive communication apps and in-person conversations.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/104993

JaneJeffer · 10/12/2023 14:13

I read something a couple of weeks ago that said they only need four words in your voice to be able to clone it!

CranfordScones · 10/12/2023 13:52

Here's the link to the Radio 4 programme that covered the issue: File on Four: Artificial Intelligence: The Criminal Threat

People saying it's not plausible need to get up to speed. I'm tech savvy, and was quite surprised by it.

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4, Artificial Intelligence: The Criminal Threat

Artificial intelligence: are the criminals one step ahead? File on 4 investigates.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sv93

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 10/12/2023 13:51

It actually is plausible. People need to educate themselves, not dismiss this as something someone imagined fgs. Scammers are two steps in front of us. Don’t let ignorance make you fall even further behind! Get educated.

roses2 · 10/12/2023 13:50

This is worrying! Faking someone's voice isn't something I had considered AI could do/would be used for.

inamarina · 10/12/2023 13:44

AIstolemylunch · 10/12/2023 12:17

Can't you just agree with her that you will never phone or email her asking for emergency money? I mean who ar eall these grown adults that are supposedly asking their parents for cash? If I lost my phone and was in a foreign country or whatever I'd use my account, my overdraft, credit cards or whatever and if all were not available because I'd been robbed and lost everything id go to the British Embassy.

And you were safely back home anyway presumably, so could go into a bank, withdraw cash, use your husband's phone etc. I think it's more concerning that she thought it was credible that you would need money from her. As a mother of a first born recently left home I totally get this btw, the instinct is to do anything to make it right for them. But she's lost the logic of you now being a young student backpacking round the world or whatever so you wouldn't need to ask her to send you money for a new iPhone. I think you need to emphasise that to her going forward, and maybe get her to change her number. Also, contact her network and make sure all scam awareness facilities are switched on and that they put her on their vulnerable list.

Well, I’m an adult and I can imagine asking my parents for cash in an emergency.
I would never demand £985 for a new iPhone though.
I think agreeing on a code word (or several) is a sensible idea.

Mouldyfoodhelp · 10/12/2023 13:40

startquitting · 10/12/2023 12:30

Everyone should watch this clip, it’s just a commercial but really good.

Also this is someone discussing an AI scam where they used AI to sound like his son

twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1725901659270742084?t=-CkEuPn6O44ireOfjGfjcg&s=19

EmptyYoghurtPot · 10/12/2023 13:38

How old is DM? Could it be an age related thing?
Or (and I’m not trying to be funny here) but if she’s on holiday had she had too much to drink and either got confused or dreamed the whole thing? Surely common sense would tell her that you wouldn’t bother her on holiday when you have a husband who was presumably with you? And she waited till this morning to check on you?
None of this makes sense.

LumpyPumpkin · 10/12/2023 13:24

You need to tell your Mum that you will never, ever contact her via phone asking her for money and that if anyone ever does, it is not you.

The password idea is good too.

I would be worried about how susceptible/gullible she is to these scams. Maybe she could contact her bank and see if there is come kind of block they can put on her making transfers over a certain amount.

christmaspaws · 10/12/2023 13:22

ExtraOnions · 10/12/2023 12:18

We have a family code word .. it’s not written down anywhere, it’s committed to memory. Any scams will be asked “what’s the password”
I would recommend everyone does this

Same, and we use it for everything
If I rang my dad and said it, he would drop everything to come and get me
Started as a teenager when if I needed a get out or felt unsafe, I could text or say it no questions asked

User2856948 · 10/12/2023 13:20

Do you answer scam calls, they can get your voice there, I set my phone to send unknown callers to voicemail but some people do answer the scammers phone calls

SurelySmartie · 10/12/2023 13:16

Just to be clear OP are there any videos at all online of you and your voice?

tomatoontoast · 10/12/2023 12:57

wudubelieveit · 10/12/2023 12:47

As others have mentioned, this was on radio 4 the other week, the programme was able to “scam” the reporters own mother by copying his voice.

Show quote history

It's extremely time consuming and expensive for an average scammer to access that type of technology to scam a measly £900.

It's not plausible it would be used for such a small scan. Just because a radio programme pumped money into it doesn't mean it happened in this case. It's not plausible unless OPs mother is famous or known as being wealthy.

commonsense61 · 10/12/2023 12:54

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

CharityShopChic · 10/12/2023 12:51

It is plausible in that the technology is out there. It is not known whether the "hi mum, lost my phone" scammers are actually using it.

From a purely practical point of view, if they are getting a high enough hit rate of success with their texts, why would they be spending money on software and spending time deep faking thousands of voices which might not be successful anyway?

By all means be aware and cautious with phone calls, but this doesn't mean that the scammers have ditched the old scams and moved onto something new.

wudubelieveit · 10/12/2023 12:47

tomatoontoast · 10/12/2023 12:31

It's likely your mother is misremembering rather than someone using AI to copy your voice. That's just not plausible.

I would recommend you keep a closer eye on your her. Likely this is the start of dementia.

As others have mentioned, this was on radio 4 the other week, the programme was able to “scam” the reporters own mother by copying his voice.

startquitting · 10/12/2023 12:37

tomatoontoast · 10/12/2023 12:31

It's likely your mother is misremembering rather than someone using AI to copy your voice. That's just not plausible.

I would recommend you keep a closer eye on your her. Likely this is the start of dementia.

Of course it’s plausable, what are you on about?

tomatoontoast · 10/12/2023 12:31

It's likely your mother is misremembering rather than someone using AI to copy your voice. That's just not plausible.

I would recommend you keep a closer eye on your her. Likely this is the start of dementia.