Artificial intelligence is fueling billions of dollars in losses to scams as criminals clone people's voices to compromise credit cards and bank accounts.

WBTV reports that the classic scam, in which victims receive a call from a loved one asking for money, is far easier with AI.

The Ease of AI-Driven Scams

Cybersecurity expert Thomas Hyslip, who spent two decades in federal law enforcement with the Secret Service and the Department of Defense, says it takes seconds to create impostor audio.

"Historically, they had to go out and steal credit cards manually... Now, with AI, they can take what they already have and use that to enhance their ability to commit fraud... Some of them, you can do [in] as many as 30 seconds. You can clone somebody's voice and then make phone calls or, you know, use it to try to trick voice recognition. Some banks now use voice recognition instead of the phone number."

Financial Impact

Big Four accounting firm Deloitte says its base case forecast finds fraud from generative AI will reach $30 billion by 2027, rising from $12.3 billion in 2023. The rapid increase in AI capabilities significantly contributes to the growing financial losses.

FBI's Warning

In a statement to WBTV, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) urged people to be cautious about allowing personal information to be made public. The FBI noted that hackers are now able to take seemingly trivial snippets of video or photos and use them to conduct fraud.

"AI-enabled synthetic audio content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make, which will likely allow criminals to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against families, individuals, businesses, and financial institutions."

The FBI urges the public to exercise caution when posting or directly messaging personal photos, videos, and identifying information on social media, dating apps, and other online sites.

Although seemingly innocuous when posted or shared, the images and videos can provide malicious actors with abundant content to find and target victims and exploit for criminal activity.

"AI-enabled synthetic audio content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make, which will likely allow criminals to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against families, individuals, businesses, and financial institutions." - FBI Statement.