'Tis The Season For Scammers: AI Voices Increasingly Used To Victimize New Yorkers

In a warning issued Thursday, Nov. 16, Suffolk County Police on Long Island said scammers are increasingly using fake voices that are generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to dupe victims out of their money.

To pull off the “spoofing” scam, criminals use AI tools to clone the voices of people who post on social media and then call their relatives pretending to be them.

Police highlighted a recent example in which an 85-year-old Hauppauge man got a call from someone posing as his granddaughter.

Using AI spoofing to imitate the girl's voice, scammers convinced the man to fork over $19,000 in cash for “bail money.”

In another case, a 70-year-old Smithtown woman was scammed out of nearly $200,000 by someone claiming to be an Amazon representative, police said.

The woman was told that her bank account had been “compromised” and that she should turn over her cash “to keep it safe.”

Both incidents are under police investigation.

“Criminals are constantly looking for new opportunities to prey on people for financial gain, and the holidays are traditionally a time when people are preoccupied and could fall victim to a scam,” a department spokesperson said.

Detectives with the department’s Financial Crime Unit are now offering free scam prevention presentations to community groups and senior centers.

Police urged people to be especially wary of anyone claiming:

• To be part of a legitimate organization that you are familiar with;
• There is a problem or a prize;
• A family member is injured or in jail;
• You need to act immediately or threaten your safety;
• Payment must be made in a specific form, i.e. cash, Venmo etc.

“Residents need to be aware of individuals that are looking to take advantage of the generosity of others during this time of year,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

“We strongly encourage the public to educate themselves and be cognizant of such operations that are prevalent during the holiday season so that they are protected from scammers.”

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