The police are now warning of a new type of crime.
Fraudsters have started using AI-cloned voices to get hold of money and sensitive information – and several cases have already been discovered in Sweden.
– We are trying to build up a defense and I hope we do it in time, says Jan Olsson at the police’s fraud centre.
In step with the lightning-fast progress of AI technology, criminals have started using the new technology to cheat people of money and sensitive information. In Sweden, the police have discovered several cases where fraudsters use AI-cloned voices to commit crimes.
– You collect voice information from the person you pretend to be and then you contact people such as “CEO”, says Jan Olsson at the police’s fraud center on TV4 Nyhetsmorgon.
– The risk is very high that the person will go for it if the “CEO” asks for a foreign transaction.
Jan Olsson explains that fraudsters can “steal voices” from telephone exchanges and then impersonate someone in a company in order to, for example, try to secure large transactions.
– In the future, and to some extent already now, the recipient will believe that it is a credible person who has the right to get information out.
“Must be common sense”
The new type of fraud is difficult to protect against, according to Jan Olsson.
– We cannot say that you should hang up when your son calls, for example, he says.
– You have to be healthy and cautious. If someone whose voice you recognize suddenly requests information from you that stands out, you can say that you should call back in a while and then call back and check.
Jan Olsson also says that mobile operators and companies responsible for product development must take the problem very seriously.
– They are probably thinking a lot about how to stop this before it becomes an avalanche of problems, he says.
“Trying to build a defense”
The police think that the acceptance of responsibility has been too poor.
– I assume they are sitting in think tanks now, because so far they have not really lived up to the responsibility they should take.
At the same time, Jan Olsson emphasizes that the police must also put considerable resources into trying to remedy the problem.
– We have to invest a lot in trying to keep up. I know that Interpol and Europol are talking to police authorities and stakeholders from different countries about how to face the new crime, he says.
– We don’t even know what future crime looks like. We are trying to build a defense and I hope we do it in time.