Tie her up on the phone

“Grandma Daisy” and the fight against AI fraudsters

It's not just older people who fall victim to scammers like fake police officers.

(Bild: motortion - stock.adobe.com, BMI/Karl Schober, Krone KREATIV)

Organized crime is increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI). On the one hand, to find the perfect victim. On the other hand, there are more and more cases in which people are asked for cash by supposedly familiar voices. Meanwhile, AI is also fighting on the good side - with its own AI grandma. 

At the end of January, Philippine authorities arrested 100 people who were ripping people off worldwide from a call center in Manila. And Thailand is currently sending around 5,000 such call center fraudsters from China back to their home country - some of them were lured in under false promises and then forced to work for the AI mafia in call centers hidden in the middle of the jungle.

Returning home: Numerous scammers who themselves became victims of scammers are now being sent home to China.

(Bild: EPA/Somrerk Kosolwitthayanant)

How many AI-generated calls are there? 
AI-generated calls are becoming increasingly popular with gangs operating internationally. But are they also a problem in Austria? There are no concrete figures on this. Whether the fraud was committed with an AI-distorted voice does not in itself change the criminal offense. Furthermore, private individuals who fall for pity calls are usually unable to recognize that it is fraud. And: the number of unreported attempts and successful coups is extremely high - often due to a sense of shame.

Sometimes you notice a robotic rewinding and "jerking" of the voice in between. Dialects can sometimes only be cloned poorly.

„Krone“-Cyberexperte Dr. Cornelius Granig rät, im Zweifel genau auf die Anrufer-Stimme zu achten.

Bild: Imre Antal

If in doubt, always hang up immediately!
And yet "Krone" cyber expert Dr. Cornelius Granig is certain: "Even with Austria as a target country, fraudsters are using more tools from the field of AI to better target their victims." AI is used, for example, to select "suitable" victims. It is then easy to "clone" the voices of acquaintances of the person being called, says Granig. And deceptively real. According to the cyber professional, identity theft and shock calls are all about luring victims out of their shell quickly. If in doubt, he advises hanging up and contacting the trusted person who was supposedly on the phone on their private number. In most cases, this person does not know that their voice has been used in an attempt to defraud them.

Unknown caller, but you seem to know the voice - this is usually a trap.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

AI calls are still quite easy to unmask
Granig knows that AI tools are currently often flawed. You notice a robotic unwinding, in between a "jerking" of the voice. Dialects can only be cloned poorly. Manufacturers are constantly working on improving their freely accessible software, which can be used for both good and bad purposes. For example, the company "ElevenLabs" has developed a technology with which voice recordings of telephone calls can be examined with regard to the use of AI. The race against fraudsters who sound more and more like their own relatives and friends continues. 

Soccer patron fell into the millions trap
One person who has already been caught out is the former president of Inter Milan soccer club, Massimo Moratti. "Ciao Massimo, it's me, Guido," was the message on a cell phone call. Moratti thought he was talking to his friend, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. Fraudsters had only faked his voice to make it look deceptively similar. Moratti was supposed to help ransom Italian journalists from the Middle East, they said. He would get the money back. A fairy tale, of course - but Moratti fell into the trap and transferred one million euros to an account in Hong Kong. 

The AI grandma - a tool of the future?

(Bild: O2)

Grandma "Daisy" robs scammers of their last nerve
She sounds like a friendly old lady and even looks like one - but in reality she is a high-tech weapon against fraudsters. The British telephone provider O2 has created an AI that pretends to be a talkative grandma and robs phone fraudsters of their time - with endless stories about her cat, her grandson or her knitted masterpiece. Daisy" uses AI technology to prevent real people from coming to harm. In tests, she was able to keep the fraudsters tied to the phone for more than an hour until the criminals lost their nerve. "I have all the time in the world," she acknowledged the crooks' abuse with a smile.