If a call sounds like your boss (asking for bank account numbers) or your family member (begging for help in an emergency), you’re more likely to act. That’s why scammers use voice cloning to make their requests for money or information more believable. And the FTC is fighting back.
When the FTC announced its Voice Cloning Challenge last year, the main goal was to encourage innovative ways to help protect people from AI-enabled voice cloning harms. Today, we’re pleased to announce that that the FTC awarded four top prizes to the winning submissions that take a wide range of approaches to doing just that:
- a solution that would use algorithms to detect whether voice patterns are human or synthetic
- a technology that would detect in real time voice cloning and deep fakes in incoming phone calls or digital audio in two-second chunks, assigning a “liveness score”
- a proposal that would watermark audio with distortions that people would not be able to hear, but that could throw off AI voice cloners so that the audio could not be accurately cloned
- a technology that would authenticate that a voice is human and embed the authentication as a type of watermark
Learn more about the winning proposals on the Voice Cloning Challenge page.
The Voice Cloning Challenge is a part of the FTC’s ongoing work to ensure voice cloning technology isn’t used by scammers to cause harm. That work includes prevention of harms where possible, a proposed comprehensive ban on impersonation fraud, and applying the Telemarketing Sales Rule to AI-enabled scam calls. It also includes warning consumers about the use of AI in scams — like when a scammer clones a family member’s voice, calls pretending to be in trouble, and then asks you to send money right away.
If you get a call like this, call the person who supposedly contacted you using a phone number you know is theirs, and verify the story. If you can’t reach your loved one, try to get in touch with them through another family member or their friends.
If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
we need to stop all AI, voice, face, and scammers all at once, for the entire world and we as a country should be able to do so! Hire all the hackers, if need be!
Voice cloning is dangerous for everyone. Please make it a felony to perpetuate this crime.
In reply to Voice cloning is dangerous… by Nancy Mccormick
100% AGREE WITH NANCY!!! MAKE IT A FELONY!!!
AI REALLY FRIGHTENS Me and I also use Google and Gmail. I hope and pray that I don't have to use AI for anything or any app. I still work so hard as I'm senior and can't afford to even retire fully. I'm very distraught about this. I'm single older mother, raised my son and taught him well to survive on his own... proudly staying, and I have multi chronic illnesses that I've been blessed to battle and continue to survive..
... and continue to work very hard. I can't even afford to take full retirement and get the rest I've worked my whole long life for. I've got to keep working full time, plus my part time when I file full retirement... soon... and I don't feel AI should be required for anything. I've paid my taxes every year until this last. I'm paying monthly installments now for Federal. This is not right and so unfair. Yes.. agree with Nancy, above, .... FELONY 100%.
And the FTC will make all of these technologies free to consumers?
FTC let's implement that Cell phone manufacturers actually have an internal report system as well. With active cell phone partnerships may be best to document information directly as something suspicious occurs.
The "report suspicious interaction" button should be where the end call button is on the phone and or within that specified interaction. This may start the process to an FTC investigation that is time stamped and then sent a transactional email to further the documentation. Something such as "report suspicious call button" may ask also ask a series of preliminary questions that better documents the interaction while information is freshest in mind.
From this side of the border, often i wonder of how safe we are. I am a unionized employee, work with elderly people and environment. Tech. I am a environmental services personale.
Three years they're been harassing me made my address nonexistent and redirect my package and all my winnings from sweepstakes u
Make it impossible to call from an unregistered phone number. How hard can that be? If your phone service detects that it's "suspected spam" why does it let the call come through? Only those numbers that are registered to a user can be used to call another number.