Deepfake voices improving kidnapping scams

nothacking , 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago)

The simple solution here is to try to contact someone before assuming they have been kidnapped. Of course the goal of scammers is to make you panic, and stop thinking rationally. A deepfake could definitely help with that.

DAT , 11 months ago

nice idea - but improbable

it’s much easier to take just about any girly voice and call hundreds of people instead of taking the time to make a single convincing call. Someone will “recognize” that voice.

BobKerman3999 , 11 months ago

Did this happen already?

DAT , 11 months ago

the title already is about “improving kidnapping scam”

so yes, that “kidnapping scam” seems to be a thing

and scams generally work best if done low effort

fun fact: most of the time you don’t want to waste time on less-guilible people, so making your scam less obvious isn’t that usefull.

quirzle , 11 months ago

Yes, the article is about a specific instance of it happening.

I think this might be a case where the generic "scams generally work best if done low effort" doesn't apply, since to be successful, this sort of scam requires some specifics. The not-kidnapped daughter was away training for a ski race. Blasting "we kidnapped your daughter" to people whose daughter is sitting on the couch next to them or people without daughters doesn't work at all.

The article mentions people lose an average of $11k in these scams, which means they're probably working best when targeting people with some savings.