Khaberni - In the past, phone scammers often revealed themselves through their poor English, line distortions, or illogical stories.
Today, the situation is completely different as modern artificial intelligence technologies are able to mimic voices with astonishing realism and manipulate live video calls.
It only takes a few seconds of audio in a video call or voicemail for scammers to impersonate relatives, friends, or colleagues.
As a result, unexpected calls and the classic "grandparent trick," where a relative pretends to be a young person in distress asking for financial help, or alleged emergency calls, seem more credible than ever.
But the good news is that even modern artificial intelligence has its limits, it not only mimics voices or faces but also has to interact spontaneously, calculate motion accurately, and maintain the credibility of the story.
These are precisely the weaknesses that can be exploited, and often just a few seconds are enough to expose an attempted fraud, according to a report by "Tech Advisor".
How to Detect Fabricated Videos?
If you receive a suspicious video call on your smartphone from someone claiming to be a relative or a colleague or a manager, you can perform a very simple test: ask the person on the other end to raise three fingers in front of their face right away.
For humans, this is a simple and routine movement, yet many deepfake systems struggle to handle it.
They need to process the face, the fingers, and the background simultaneously and instantly.
This might result in blurring of the fingers, flickering parts of the face, unnatural transitions, or a temporary glitch in the image.
Even just moving the head quickly or changing the angle of the camera unusually may confuse the scammer's system.
However, it's important to note that the "three-finger trick" is not 100% accurate.
Modern deepfake systems continue to evolve, and even a weak internet connection can cause distortions in the image.
Thus, any visual glitch should be treated as a warning sign, and look for other clues. Additionally, this test is only useful with video calls, for voice calls only, the following strategies will help.
Overcoming Voice Spoofing
In voice-only calls, the same basic principle applies, but at a different level.
You don't need to determine that a voice is AI-generated, but it suffices to steer the caller away from their pre-prepared script.
Whether it's a cloned voice or a traditional phone scammer, the situation is the same, criminals operate with scripts, they intend to create a sense of urgency, and they rely on you asking as few questions as possible, this is exactly what you can disrupt.
Ask Questions That Can't Be Googled
Questions about a recent vacation or a pet are no longer secretive enough these days.
As much personal information is available on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, therefore, memories and details that have never been published before are more effective.
For example:
- What is the family password?
- Where is the spare key?
- What is the name of my first teacher in elementary school?
- What nickname did my grandfather call me?
And while the cloned voice imitation may be very sophisticated, the scammer knows nothing about your personal memories.
Intentionally Interrupt the Conversation
Scammers always try to control the dialogue, every pause gives you a chance to think, ask questions, or evaluate the situation, and this is precisely what criminals try to avoid.
So, intentionally interrupt by saying something ordinary like: "Wait, I want to close the window" or "Hold on a moment."
In normal situations, a real family member will either wait patiently or behave normally, whereas scammers often try to continue talking, increase the pressure, or prevent you from interrupting.
Change the Course of the Conversation
Scammers rely on pre-prepared stories and try to steer the conversation towards their plan as much as possible, you can break this plan by suddenly changing the subject or asking a question unrelated to the alleged emergency.
Some suitable examples are:
- "Did my grandmother actually sell her car yet?"
- "How is our neighbor doing?"
- "What did we cook together last Christmas?"
Real family members will react spontaneously and naturally, whereas scammers must improvise, dodge the question, or try to quickly return to their prepared story.
The Most Effective Test: Call Them Yourself
There's a simpler and often more effective way, which is to call them yourself, the key phrase is: "I'll hang up now and call you back on your usual number."
This immediately deprives scammers of their biggest advantage, control of the situation, and a real family member will understand, while anyone trying to prevent you from ending the call by issuing new warnings, making up excuses, or pressuring you to extend your time, sends a clear warning signal.
The Best Protection Starts Long Before the First Call
The less personal information available to the public, the harder it is for scammers to make up credible stories.
A shared family password is very useful, as it acts like a traditional password, and should be easy to remember but impossible for strangers to guess.
A random phrase like "blue whale" is better than pet names, birth dates, or holiday destinations, which can be easily guessed through social media.
Moreover, reviewing your digital footprint is also useful as often, public telephone directories, social media, and publicly available profiles provide scammers exactly what they need to fabricate convincing stories.
Therefore, you should remove any non-essential personal details and agree on a simple rule within the family, if in doubt, always hang up and redial using a number you know.
