Criminals are hacking children’s social media accounts and cloning their voices using AI to trick their parents into sending them money, MailOnline can reveal.
Even the most basic scammers are using simple AI tools online to turn just three seconds of a child’s voice into deepfakeaudio files with an 85 to 90 per cent match, security experts have warned.
With more effort spent on cloning, hackers can even achieve a 95 per cent voice match, research from security firm McAfee shows, leaving parents at risk of being exploited by ruthless fraudsters.
The more accurate the clone, the better chance a criminal has of preying on the vulnerability of a friend or family member and tricking them into handing over their money. One influencer, with nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok, revealed how her mother was woken up in the middle of the night to a call from an unknown number. When she answered, it was her daughter’s voice – which had been cloned – screaming for help. It comes as fraud experts issued fresh warnings over the latest ‘hi mum’ texts where scammers ‘prey on our goodwill with emotive stories’ and con parents into thinking their children are in trouble.
