Beware of AI Scams Powered by Deepfake

As of recent, there have been a surging wave of incidents where a stranger gets to a shop and hands over the phone to the shop attendant saying:
"Your boss wants to talk to you"

Shop attendant: Hello ma

Boss: How much do you have there in cash?

Shop attendant: ₦200,000 Ma.

Boss: Give ₦150,000 to that man with five pairs of suits from what I just came back with, he will choose for himself.

There comes the Screening and shouting,
"Don't you know my voice?.
If somebody says you should give out money and stuff over the phone...
How long have you been with me that you can't identify my voice?"

A well orchestrated scam with the help of Deepfake had just been successfully executed. And yes, it was your voice that was used to authenticate the scam, and the similarity was between 98 to 102% perfect.

There are software, like a lyrebird that can get a voice sample, analyse it and use its features in a Voice conversion to make conversations. It could only take 3 minutes or less on the phone to get a good sample of your voice. These software are often called Deepfakes. Though they come with a lot of positive applications, it has been used locally to enhance fraudulent activities.
Just as ChatGPT can write a text that looks human, Deepfake can create videos that look flawless with sound and very perfect lip-sync.

Being smart this days mean you should not believe your eyes and can't trust your ears because what you see or hear could just be a fake.

A Deepfake video of Elon Musk invited people online to invest using Bitcoins and got a lot of people as the promised return on investment was too good.
While some Deepfakes are prerecorded, some run in realtime and can be used to host video calls or sustain an interactive phone call where the voice or face is masked with an avatar designed to fool the victim.

Below is a Deepfake sample of Morgan Freeman. If you know this actor, you will agree that his face and voice is 102% accurate.

So next time I call you, especially when it's a business call and it involves resources. Just find a way to make sure it's really me. Don't depend on what you see or hear over the phone. It could be faked.
You could Intensional please an error in statement such that only the real person can identify it. Watch out for strange or missing mannerism or style. You may also install Deepfake detector apps.

If you should search online, we have videos of president Trump advertising some Products and President Zelensky of Ukraine asking his troops to surrender, all being Deepfake.

We are living in a time when the possession, manipulation and control of information is wealth. There is a pressing need to develop the ability collect a lot of information then screen the information.
It's best to be skeptical and cautious, while you create a method for Authenticating the source of information, and the person you are in communication with.
This people study their victims before attacking, so they are ready and convincing. Let's hope the aim of this post is achieved, that you have been informed of the newest scam in town.