The Federal Trade Commission is addressing AI-generated phone scams that enable individuals to mimic another person’s voice to deceive their family members.
When Gary Schildhorn received a call from someone claiming to be his brother Brett, requesting $9,000 for bail after a supposed car accident, he nearly became a victim of such a scam. Schildhorn decided to share his experience publicly after discovering that the call was a fraudulent, AI-generated message from a scammer.
The positions of Republican candidates on artificial intelligence vary.
“I was in disbelief. I sat motionless in my car, repeating to myself, ‘It was your message, Brett,’” recalled Schildhorn. “The realization that it was not my brother’s voice left me in a state of shock and disbelief.” The capabilities of AI are indeed alarming.
Schildhorn emphasized to NewsNation that “there seems to be no legal recourse or law enforcement solution available.” Educating individuals about these scams can help prevent falling victim to them.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing to ban early termination fees for cable and satellite TV services.
The FTC is encouraging the public to devise solutions to combat AI-driven scams and is offering a $25,000 reward for innovative ideas.
In a statement, the FTC expressed that the Voice Cloning Challenge aims to “encourage the creation of solutions to safeguard consumers against the misuse of artificial intelligence-powered voice cloning for fraudulent purposes.”
These scammers operate with impunity, posing a challenge to law enforcement. Schildhorn noted the lack of legislation to address this issue, highlighting the compromised trust in the system.
