A new survey from McAfee, an online security firm, has revealed that almost half of Indian respondents were unable to differentiate between real and cloned voices, with 83 percent of the victims of these AI-enabled voice scams suffering from the loss of money. The survey included 7,054 people from seven countries, with 1,010 participants from India.
According to the survey, voice scams are becoming increasingly true with AI technology and perpetrators could clone a person’s voice using just three seconds of audio. It is found that 69 percent of Indian adults were unable to tell the difference between a real and AI voice. Additionally, 66 percent of Indian respondents said they would reply to a voicemail or voice note they believed was coming from a friend, loved one, parent, partner, or child even if it was asking them for money.
McAfee suggests that one protective measure that could be taken against these scams is the use of a codeword between family members or trusted close friends. The survey also revealed that more than a quarter of Indian adults are now less trusting of social media and 43 percent were concerned about the rise of misinformation or disinformation.
Steve Grobman, McAfee’s CTO commented on how artificial intelligence can be used for malicious purposes, and said: “This is what we’re seeing today with the access and ease of use of AI tools helping cybercriminals to scale their efforts in increasingly convincing ways.”
McAfee is an internationally-recognised cyber security company founded in 1987 and has been providing security solutions to business and home users for over two decades. Steve Grobman is the Chief Technology Officer of McAfee, previously working as a Vice President of Strategy and Chief Technology Officer of Intel Security, Novum Structurae, and Lockheed Martin. He is also an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University where he teaches courses in security strategy, policy, law, and technology. He holds a number of patents related to computer security, identity management, and digital rights management.
