What would you do if you picked up a call and heard the voice of a loved one in distress? With the emotions that crop up immediately, would it occur to you that it could be a scam?
This is what a southern Manitoba woman recently faced in a situation that seems straight out of a science fiction tale.
It started with a call from an unknown number, but then there was chilling familiarity.
‘Without judgment?’
Leann Friesen of Miami says that she initially picked up the call from the blocked number because sometimes it's her doctor’s office on the other end.
This time, she was surprised at what she heard.
“It was a voice that I recognized as my son's voice, and he asked me if he could tell me anything at all, and I said yes, and he said, ‘Without judgment?’ and I said yes,” she says.
“Every time a question was asked, there was a pause before he answered me.”
Friesen says that as the round of questioning continued, she asked her son where he was (to which he replied after being asked a few times that he was in his room) and what he was doing, which he wouldn’t answer.
“This went on for a while,” she says. “I finally told him to hang up and call me from his cell phone, and I hung up.”
Friesen received no call. When she reached out to her son via cell phone in response, he confirmed it hadn’t been him on the other end of the initial call.
An AI scam
What happened to Friesen is one of the latest developments in phone scams. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, scammers mimic the voices of loved ones to attempt to secure money or sensitive information.
Friesen says that if she has a regret, it’s that she initially answered the questions that the phony voice asked.
“When it's your son's voice, you don't think anything of it, really, and he sounded kind of panicked, so that panics you and you immediately answer his questions,” she says.
Although Friesen recognized her son's voice on the call, as the conversation developed, she also became suspicious.
“I realized ... that it was probably a scam because he just kept repeating [the questions]," she says. “It wasn't like him.”
Where did they get the voice?
While Friesen did not fall into the trap laid by the scammer, the situation brought out some eerie questions for her.
“You wonder where they get your kid’s voice from and then how they know to call you. He said, ‘Hello, mom,’ and it sounded identical [to] my son's voice,” she says.
How can one identify this scam?
According to the Canadian Bankers Association, what tipped off Friesen is precisely what one should listen for in a call that might be suspicious: noting abnormal speech patterns and pauses between answers.
This is the best way to identify this type of scam.
Friesen’s advice to others who may find themselves in a similar position is to exercise an abundance of caution.
“Just beware. If you get a [call] like that, just don't answer any of their questions. Realize it's a scam,” she says.
With files from Robyn Wiebe